Brownian Motion
Named after botanist Robert Brown, who observed the phenomenon in 1827 while studying pollen grains in water
The random, erratic movement of particles suspended in a fluid, caused by collisions with molecules in the surrounding medium. A fundamental model of random processes.
Biological Context
Molecules inside cells move via Brownian motion, enabling random encounters that drive chemical reactions. Bacteria use Brownian motion in their 'random walk' search patterns. Understanding Brownian motion helps explain how life operates at microscopic scales where thermal fluctuations dominate.
Business Application
Market prices exhibit Brownian-like random walks in the short term. Resource allocation under uncertainty often resembles random search. Understanding randomness helps distinguish signal from noise in business metrics.