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8 - Occam’s Razor

The Reduction to Simplicity

from Part II - The Present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

R. Saravanan
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
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Summary

The concept of Occam’s Razor, also known as the principle of parsimony, is a motivating force in science. Galileo’s experiment of dropping objects of different weights from atop the Leaning Tower of Pisa to show that they fall at the same rate is an illustration of this principle. But the application of Occam’s Razor to climate modeling is less straightforward. Simple models of the kind used by Manabe provide qualitative insights, but they are not well-suited for quantitative predictions. To understand this, we can make an analogy between the hierarchy of climate models and the hierarchy of biological models, from fruit fly to mouse. Simple models are used to explore “climate tipping points,” where amplifying feedbacks lead to abrupt climate change, but they may not consider all the stabilizing feedbacks. It is therefore important to use a hierarchy of models, with varying degrees of complexity, to study climate phenomena.

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The Climate Demon
Past, Present, and Future of Climate Prediction
, pp. 129 - 141
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Occam’s Razor
  • R. Saravanan, Texas A & M University
  • Book: The Climate Demon
  • Online publication: 02 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039604.012
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  • Occam’s Razor
  • R. Saravanan, Texas A & M University
  • Book: The Climate Demon
  • Online publication: 02 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039604.012
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Occam’s Razor
  • R. Saravanan, Texas A & M University
  • Book: The Climate Demon
  • Online publication: 02 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039604.012
Available formats
×