When I went to the lecture by Steven Strogatz on synchronization in nature, I was not sure what to expect. What does he mean by synchronization in nature and the world by mathematics? Would I even be able to understand the topic and discussion? I did not have to worry because Strogatz was incredibly easy to understand and broke his studies down into easy to understand chunks. Synchronization in nature is natural and like Darwin’s theory of the balance of species in nature, every input has an output to maintain a balance.

Darwin and Strogatz both provided examples for their balance in nature. Darwin cited population control techniques so as to prevent certain species from growing past a certain limit. One example he gave was deer, and their rapid breeding if left unattended by predators. Once the deer have consumed all of their food supply because of their rapid population explosion, many will die. This leaves only a certain number of deer who are able to adapt and survive while trimming the population and bringing the ecosystem back into synchronization. Strogatz talked about fireflys and their ability to flash their “lights” in synchronization with no indicator. He spoke about a possible biological chemical or transmitter that controls their pattern of flashing lights. Strogatz also spoke about how women’s menstrual cycles were altered to fall in sync of the pheromones of a women that she had never met. This gave the scientists the hint that there is possibly a signal in our biology that controls synchronization of our bodies and other species bodies unconsciously. This again leads into the theory of natural order and control of nature.

The lecture was a great opportunity provided by the school to tie in lessons learned in the classroom to real world experiences and research. By going to this lecture I was able to advance my understanding of Darwin while enriching my college experience by learning form such an esteemed professor.