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Branches: Nature's Patterns: A Tapestry in Three Parts

By: Publication details: United Kingdom; Oxford University Press; 26 May 2011Description: 236 Pages; PaperbackISBN:
  • 9780199604883
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 500.20
Summary: 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.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Notes Date due Barcode Item holds
Book Adult and Young Adult 15-17 Karachi Science 500.20 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available PKLC009839
Book Adult and Young Adult 15-17 Lahore In Store 500.20 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Withdrawn For Sale PKLC001737
Total holds: 0

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.

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