Chaos theory has a bad name. It conjures up images of unpredictable weather, economic crashes, and science gone wrong. But there is a fascinating and hidden side to chaos, one that scientists are only now beginning to understand. It turns out that chaos theory answers a question humankind has asked for millennia... How did we get here?

In this breathtaking programme, Professor Jim Al-Khalili reveals the science behind much of the beauty and structure in the natural world and discovers that far from it being magic or an art of God, it is in fact an intrinsic part of the laws of physics. Amazingly, it turns out that the mathematics of chaos can explain how and why the universe creates exquisite order and pattern.

And the best thing? You don't need to be a scientist to understand it. The natural world is full of awe-inspiring examples of the way nature transforms simplicity into complexity. From trees to clouds to humans - once you've seen The Secret Life of Chaos you'll never be able to look at the world in the same way again.