The Self-Made Tapestry : Pattern Formation in Nature Paperback / softback
by Philip Ball
Paperback / softback
Description
Why do similar patterns and forms appear in nature in settings that seem to bear no relation to one another?
The windblown ripples of desert sand follow a sinuous course that resemles the stripes of a zebra or a marine fish.
In the trellis-like shells of microscopic sea creatures we see the same angles and intersections as for bubble walls in a foam.
The forks of lightning mirror the branches of a river or a tree. ^l This book explains why these are no coincidences.
Nature commonly weaves its tapestry by self-organization, employing no master plan or blueprint but by simple, local interactions between its component parts - be they grains of sand, diffusing molecules or living cells - give rise to spontaneous patters that are at the same time complex and beautiful.
Many of these patterns are universal: spirals, spots, and stripes, branches, honeycombs.
Philip Ball conducts a profusely illustrated tour of this gallery, and reveals the secrets of how nature's patterns are made.
Information
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Out of stock
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:296 pages, 16pp colour plates, numerous halftones and line illustrations
- Publisher:Oxford University Press
- Publication Date:05/07/2001
- Category:
- ISBN:9780198502432
Information
-
Out of stock
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:296 pages, 16pp colour plates, numerous halftones and line illustrations
- Publisher:Oxford University Press
- Publication Date:05/07/2001
- Category:
- ISBN:9780198502432
