Complexity and the Role of Math (...and Toddlers)

"Physicists can predict what atoms will do.  But gather enough atoms, and the calculations grow unwieldy. We need new, emergent laws -- chemical laws. Then, gather enough chemicals, and complexity overwhelms us again. We need biology to step in with new theories and rules. And so on down the line. At each tipping point, the role of math evolves: from certain to tentative, from deterministic to statistical, from consensus to controversy. Simple phenomena (like quarks) follow mathematical rules with slavish fidelity. Complex phenomena (like toddlers) less so."
                                                    -- Ben Orlin from "Change Is the Only Constant"

 (incredibly here, Ben almost succeeds in stringing together 9 sentences without a joke being involved... but, then he had to throw in "toddlers" at the end  ;)