When I first began my CourseWare initiative at Yale University in 1997, I picked DaisyWorld as a proof of concept, for the more ambitious sort of online scientific simulators newly made possible by Java applet technology. Not only could we make the math an experience, but via the Web, save the distribution and cross-platform barriers to educational software. CourseWare made it possible to combine scientific research simulators, with a professor's teaching mission, at a cost affordable within grant budgets.

But first I had to develop the base CourseWare toolkit. DaisyWorld was the vehicle for that development.

DaisyBall is one of my most popular apps. My logo is a DaisyWorld daisy.

DaisyBall Flex

The Flex incarnation of DaisyBall opted for a general audience presentation - less focus on the mathematics, more on the concepts - with prettier graphics. Choice of DaisyWorld or DaisyBall logic (2D or 3D world). Easy access controls for high level concepts, but you can still set advanced parameters. Much easier to set albedos and number of daisy colors.

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DaisyBall Java

DaisyBall is my custom 3D variation on Lovelock's classic DaisyWorld, with multiple sites around a sphere. Each site is represented by a daisy. Different lattitudes receive different solar input. Daisy color shows the dominant daisy species at each site.

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DaisyWorld Java

DaisyWorld is the classic model in 2D, demonstrating homeostasis via ecosystem feedback loops (daisy albedo). There is no spatial structure. The daisies indicate percent population at a single site.

Used in teaching "Intro to the Earth System" at UCLA, among other non-Yale courses.

Peter Schoch wrote a DaisyWorld Lab for teaching his community college Physics students (Thermodynamics, and Blackbody radiators). Thank you for sharing, Peter!

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