Nonlinearity and Chaos

One of the most exciting areas of current research in classical mechanics is the dynamic behavior of nonlinear systems. Nonlinear systems exhibit a much richer variety of behaviors than do linear systems. However, most nonlinear systems are impossible to solve using paper and pencil methods. It was only with the advent of digital computers that nonlinear dynamics really came into its own. With computer software like Maxima we can explore nonlinear dynamics in a way that is impossible without a computer.