In this article, we discuss the Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction and its relation with the Oregonator model of chemical reactions. The Oregonator model has a limit cycle, and the BZ reaction shows chemical oscillations. We compare the time series obtained from the Oregonator model, with the time series obtained froman experimental study of the BZ reaction and show that the qualitative behaviour is similar. We also construct the limit cycle from the experimental data using the Takens’ embedding theorem and compare it with the limit cycle from the Oregonator model. We conclude with a demonstration of the spatio-temporal patterns which can be seen in the two-dimensional version of this system. © 2020, Indian Academy of Sciences.