Branches

Nature's patterns: a tapestry in three parts

Philip Ball (, Freelance writer and consultant editor for ^INature^R)

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English

Oxford University Press
01 August 2011

Mathematics & Sciences; Mathematics; Popular science; Physics; Biology, life sciences

As part of a trilogy of books exploring the science of patterns in nature, acclaimed science writer Philip Ball here looks at the form and growth of branching networks in the natural world, and what we can learn from them.

Many patterns in nature show a branching form - trees, river deltas, blood vessels, lightning, the cracks that form in the glazing of pots. These networks share a peculiar geometry, finding a compromise between disorder and determinism, though some, like the hexagonal snowflake or the stones of the Devil's Causeway fall into a rigidly ordered structure. Branching networks are found at every level in biology - from the single cell to the ecosystem. Human-made networks too can come to share the same features, and if they don't, then it might be profitable to make them do so: nature's patterns tend to arise from economical solutions.

By: Philip Ball ( Freelance writer and consultant editor for ^INature^R)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 194mm, Width: 139mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 261g
ISBN: 9780199604883
ISBN 10: 0199604886
Pages: 236
Publication Date: 01 August 2011
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

1: A Winter's Tale: The Six-Pointed Snowflake 2: Tenuous Monsters: Shapes Between Dimensions 3: Just For the Crack: Clean Breaks and Ragged Ruptures 4: Water Ways: Labyrinths in the Landscape 5: Tree and Leaf: Branches in Biology 6: Web Worlds: Why We're All in This Together 7: The Threads of the Tapestry: Principles of Pattern Bibliography

Reviews for Branches: Nature's patterns: a tapestry in three parts

`Review from previous edition Wideranging, intelligent and non-dogmatic triology of books.' Martin Kemp, Times Literary Supplement `'Branches' is a slim tome, generously illustrated with photographs, charts and mathematical models.' Financial Times,