false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169254076m/39076.jpg 39076 3 Seashells are often spirals, just like water going down the drain. There <I>must</I> be a connection, right? Our intuition scoffs at such a notion, but maybe they are related, writes <I>Nature</I> editor Philip Ball in <I>The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature</I>. This deep, beautiful exploration of the recurring patterns that we find both in the living and inanimate worlds will change how you think about everything from evolution to earthquakes. Not by any means a simple book, it is still completely engaging; even the occasional forays into mathematics and the abstractions of hydrodynamics are endurable, tucked as they are between Ball's bright prose and his hundreds of carefully selected illustrations.<p> When speaking of the living world, Ball seeks to go beyond the theory of natural selection, which explains <I>why</I> we see certain characteristics (height, shape, camouflage), to find mechanisms that can explain <I>how</I> such characteristics come to be. Again, this is no easy task, but for those willing to follow his discussion, the elegance of nature is laid out in zebras' stripes, ivy leaves, and butterfly wings. Moving on to find the same patterns at work in the clouds of Jupiter and the cracks in the San Andreas fault give strength to the feeling that there are self-composing structures that guide everything in the universe toward a kind of order. <I>The Self-Made Tapestry</I> is a challenging look at the biggest issues in science, and well worth a thorough read. <I>--Rob Lightner</I> 38786 18 10 1999 The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature total:18|5:9|4:7|3:1|2:1| 18 78 39 4 5 0 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Thu Sep 27 15:47:06 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 16:30:01 -0700 2007
Inspiring for active scientists w...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu Sep 04 10:06:15 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 10:07:04 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sat Jan 05 18:24:34 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 05 18:28:06 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Thu Jun 12 11:18:12 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 11:18:49 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Nov 15 11:07:58 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 11:07:58 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 22 07:53:11 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 07:53:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jul 19 10:46:40 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 10:46:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jul 14 09:30:48 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 09:30:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 01 07:52:29 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 07:52:29 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Apr 17 18:10:07 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 17 18:10:07 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Mar 01 20:51:24 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 20:51:24 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jan 26 15:57:59 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 15:57:59 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sat Jan 24 06:15:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 24 06:15:11 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 04 05:42:36 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 05:42:36 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Nov 30 05:00:55 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 05:00:55 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 02:12:21 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 03:58:53 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Oct 06 17:53:01 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 17:53:13 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Wed Oct 01 12:52:10 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 01 12:52:17 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Sep 28 17:14:01 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 28 17:14:01 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Aug 17 15:12:02 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 17 15:12:02 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=39076