Chaos theory is a very interesting and informative method of understanding physical phenomena. However, because it fairly easily be reduced to metaphor, there can be a danger of social scientists applying the metaphors to their work without a full understanding of underlying mathematics. As a graduate student I observed John Lewis Gaddis lead a number of my collegues through this process of metaphor as theory. It was in the end a rather fruitless pursuit that resulted in little if any measurable contribution to the historical literature.
 

Hi Ryan,

I would really like to have seen the Gaddis event - I don't think I could have pulled that one off either.

Historians are better off looking at cases where we have unusually thorough records available and trying their hand at mapping scale-free networks that may have existed in say, the Nazi Party or Union volunteers in Maine during the Civil War. There is possibly, a high degree of utility there in network theory understanding why some historical organizations flourished while rivals did not.

Chaos theory has more relevance in operational military planning at this point - and even then those who can apply those lessons are a very select group.