As defined, 'catastrophy' relates to a mathematical theory known as 'catastrophy theory', that was originated by the French mathematician Thom and popularized by the English mathematician Zeeman, in which sudden changes in many kinds of behaviour and processes are formally charted as one of seven types, all characterized mathematically.

The fact is that catastrophies happen, however defined or analyzed, and that Thom's mathematics may clarify something about them, but the fact is also that it tends to be difficult to apply a formal and abstract mathematical theory directly to nature, if only because the theory tends to abstract from many factors that exist and are relevant to what the theory attempts to formalize mathematically.