This has not always been recognized. In the former case, the linear has invented the calculus, statistical techniques, and elements of operations research and systems theory. These methods work in mildly nonlinear environments. Phenomena as diverse as the flight of a cannonball, the growth of a plant, the burning of coal and the performance of a machine can be described by such equations. But linearity's real power has been its ability to produce technology, from the wheel and steam engine to the silicon chip and the unraveling of the DNA string.
Technological improvements are primarily linear, or mildly nonlinear.
In the latter case, linear techniques developed to deal with mild forms of nonlinearity, such as differential equations, work well. It should be noted, however, that software development, which is often an intrinsic part of today's technology, is potentially subject to the full range of nonlinear behaviors. But, technological success often leaves behind a conundrum of migraine proportions. As this is being written, Congress is holding hearings on cloning, a sheep having recently been duplicated in Great Britain using thoroughly linear reductionist techniques. On every other front, however, linearity alone, has not come close to meeting with the success it has enjoyed in technological innovation.