Chapter 1
Overview of Chaos
This chapter gives an overview of chaos, including the definition of chaos, the development of chaology, and the research of chaos. In particular, the research and development of chaos in the field of electrical engineering – with an emphasis on electric drive systems – are discussed in detail.
1.1 What is Chaos?
The etymology of the word “chaos” is a Greek word “χα′ς” (Nagashima and Baba, 1999) which means “the nether abyss, or infinite darkness,” and was personified as “the most ancient of the gods.” Namely, the god Chaos was the foundation of all creation. From this god arose Gaea (god of the earth), Tartarus (god of the underworld) and Eros (the god of love). Eros drew Chaos and Gaea together so that they could produce descendants, the first born of whom was Uranus (the god of the sky). This also resulted in the creation of the elder gods known as Titans. The interaction of these gods resulted in the creation of other gods, including such well-known figures as Aphrodite, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.
There is a Chinese myth of chaos (Liu, 1998), taken from one of the ancient Chinese classics Chuang-Tzu: “The god of the Southern Sea was called Shu (Change), the god of the Northern Sea was called Hu (Suddenness), and the god of the Central was called Hun-tun (Chaos). Shu and Hu often came together for a meeting in the Central, and Hun-tun treated them generously. Shu and Hu determined to repay his kindness, and said, ‘Mankind has seven holes for seeing, ...
