Shaw was one of the pioneers of chaos theory and his work at University of California, Santa Cruz on the subject was among the first research into the relationship between predictable motion and chaos in a landmark Doctor of Philosophy thesis.
In 1988 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his work in chaos theory. As part of the Dynamical Systems Collective with J. Doyne Farmer, Norman Packard, and James Crutchfield. The collective, also known as the Santa Cruz Chaos Cabal, was best known for its work in probing chaotic systems for signs of order.
A documentary is being made about Shaw"s life, his art, and his science, entitled Strange Attractors: a movie for curious people.
Shaw, while studying at University of California, Santa Cruz, worked briefly with the Eudaemons, a group of maverick physicists attempting to create a computer capable of predicting the outcome of a game of roulette.
