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Nature's patterns : a tapestry in three parts / Philip Ball

Author
Ball, Philip, 1962-
Additional Titles
Shapes
Published
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2009]
Copyright Date
©2009
Physical Description
1 online resource (308 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations (some color)
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Language Note
English.
Contents
The shapes of things : pattern and form -- Lessons of the beehive : building with bubbles -- Making waves : stripes in a test tube -- Written on the body : hiding, warning, and mimicking -- Rhythms of the wild : crustal communities -- How does your garden grow? : the mathematics of a daisy -- Unfolding the embryo : the formation of body plans.
Summary
Patterns are everywhere in nature--in the ranks of clouds in the sky, the stripes of an angelfish, the arrangement of petals in flowers. Where does this order and regularity come from? As Philip Ball reveals in Nature's Patterns: A Tapestry in Three Parts, this order creates itself. The patterns we see come from self-organization. Indeed, scientists have found that there is a pattern-forming tendency inherent in the basic structure and processes of nature, whether living or non-living, so that from a few simple themes, and the repetition of simple rules, endless beautiful variations can arise.
Subject(s)
ISBN
9780191528736 (electronic bk.)
0191528730 (electronic bk.)
019161985X
9780191619854
1282199374
9781282199378
1282346679
9781282346673
9786612346675
6612346671
0191528749
9780191528743
9780199237968
0199237964
Digital File Characteristics
data file
Note
"Nature's patterns is a trilogy composed of Shapes, Flow, and Branches."
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-301) and index.
View MARC record | catkey: 43164183