The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature

Ball, Philip

ISBN 10: 0198502435 / ISBN 13: 9780198502432

Editore: Oxford University Press, 2001

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The book is in good condition with all pages and cover intact, including the dust jacket if originally issued. The spine may show light wear. Pages may contain some notes or highlighting, and there might be a "From the library of" label. Boxed set packaging, shrink wrap, or included media like CDs may be missing.

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Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature
• Editore: Oxford University Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2001
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0198502435
• ISBN 13: 9780198502432
• Rilegatura: Brossura
• Condizione: good

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Riassunto

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 resembles 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. 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. And the products of self- organization are typically universal patterns: spirals, spots, and stripes, branches, honeycombs. This book explains, in non-technical language, and with profuse illustrations, how nature's patterns are made.

Informazioni sull?autore

Philip Ball is an editor at Nature magazine.