shapes nature's patterns a tapestry in three parts

'The self-made tapestry' was my first encounter with Ball. Individually, I might rate each of these three books a ‘3’, but together… a 4, I think. Not just a code-breaking genius, clearly. And personally, I was really intrigued to learn that it was Alan Turing who actually proposed some theories of how animals get their patterned fur. That’s obvious when we see the way other natural systems create the same patterns - rivers, sand dunes, chemical reactions. The genetic code just happens to code for proteins which work in a particular way, ultimately producing a particular pattern. It’s also a good reminder that even with Batesian mimicry, there’s no intent behind it. Instead, there seem to be sets of rules built in: processes that will occur in all genetically normal members of a species, but which won’t produce the same pattern time and again. Just as the colours of a calico cat aren’t determined genetically - so a clone of one calico cat would not have the same patterns as the first - neither are many other patterns in nature, whether in pelt colour and pattern or the building of nests.

EVen given that, it’s still a fascinating look about how patterns form, and a good note of caution to sound about genetic determinism. Sometimes it got a little too much for me to process and I started glazing over - mostly when math came into it. There’s a lot of info in these three books about patterns formed both by life and by other, non-living natural processes. This book will make you look at the world with fresh eyes, seeing order and form even in the places you'd least expect. From soap bubbles to honeycombs, delicate shell patterns, and even the developing body parts of a complex animal like ourselves, he uncovers patterns in growth and form in all corners of the natural world, explains how these patterns are self-made, and why similar shapes and structures may be found in very different settings, orchestrated by nothing more than simple physical forces. Part of a trilogy of books exploring the science of patterns in nature, acclaimed science writer Philip Ball here looks at how shapes form. Whether living or non-living, scientists have found that there is a pattern-forming tendency inherent in the basic structure and processes of nature, so that from a few simple themes, and the repetition of simple rules, endless beautiful variations can arise. The patterns we see come from self-organization. Where does this order and regularity come from? It creates itself. Patterns are everywhere in nature - in the ranks of clouds in the sky, the stripes of an angelfish, the arrangement of petals in flowers.

Shapes nature's patterns a tapestry in three parts