The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature - Couverture souple

Ball

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0198502435 ISBN 13 : 9780198502432

Editeur : Oxford University Press, 2001

Synopsis

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.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Philip Ball is an editor at Nature magazine.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press
• Date d'édition: 2001
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0198502435
• ISBN 13: 9780198502432
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 456
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italie