Reading The Shape Of Nature

Author : Mary P. Winsor
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226902080
Total Pages : 345 pages
Book Rating : 4.81/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Reading the Shape of Nature written by Mary P. Winsor and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-05-04 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reading the Shape of Nature vividly recounts the turbulent early history of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard and the contrasting careers of its founder Louis Agassiz and his son Alexander. Through the story of this institution and the individuals who formed it, Mary P. Winsor explores the conflicting forces that shaped systematics in the second half of the nineteenth century. Debates over the philosophical foundations of classification, details of taxonomic research, the young institution's financial struggles, and the personalities of the men most deeply involved are all brought to life. In 1859, Louis Agassiz established the Museum of Comparative Zoology to house research on the ideal types that he believed were embodied in all living forms. Agassiz's vision arose from his insistence that the order inherent in the diversity of life reflected divine creation, not organic evolution. But the mortar of the new museum had scarcely dried when Darwin's Origin was published. By Louis Agassiz's death in 1873, even his former students, including his son Alexander, had defected to the evolutionist camp. Alexander, a self-made millionaire, succeeded his father as director and introduced a significantly different agenda for the museum. To trace Louis and Alexander's arguments and the style of science they established at the museum, Winsor uses many fascinating examples that even zoologists may find unfamiliar. The locus of all this activity, the museum building itself, tells its own story through a wonderful series of archival photographs.

Author : Adrian Bejan
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521793889
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Shape and Structure, from Engineering to Nature written by Adrian Bejan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000-10-16 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seemingly universal geometric forms unite the flow systems of engineering and nature. For example, tree-shaped flows can be seen in computers, lungs, dendritic crystals, urban street patterns, and communication links. In this groundbreaking book, Adrian Bejan considers the design and optimization of engineered systems and discovers a deterministic principle of the generation of geometric form in natural systems. Shape and structure spring from the struggle for better performance in both engineering and nature. This idea is the basis of the new constructal theory: the objective and constraints principle used in engineering is the same mechanism from which the geometry in natural flow systems emerges. From heat exchangers to river channels, the book draws many parallels between the engineered and the natural world. Among the topics covered are mechanical structure, thermal structure, heat trees, ducts and rivers, turbulent structure, and structure in transportation and economics. The numerous illustrations, examples, and homework problems in every chapter make this an ideal text for engineering design courses. Its provocative ideas will also appeal to a broad range of readers in engineering, natural sciences, economics, and business.

Author : Jennifer Marino Walters
Publisher : Nature Is All Around Me (Look!
ISBN 13 : 1634402995
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.96/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Shapes in Nature written by Jennifer Marino Walters and published by Nature Is All Around Me (Look!. This book was released on 2018-08 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The shape of the moon, the shapes of the stones all around. Let's see what other shapes we can discover in nature.

Author : Oona Gaarder-Juntti
Publisher : ABDO
ISBN 13 : 1617834149
Total Pages : 26 pages
Book Rating : 4.41/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Shapes in Nature written by Oona Gaarder-Juntti and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2014-09-01 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shapes are everywhere! Shapes in Nature helps introduce young readers to various shapes found in daily life, from a cone on a rhino horn to a hexagon honeycomb. Simple sentences along with large eye-catching photographs help illustrate the 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes found in nature. Prompts for recognizing shapes at the beginning and end of the book help strengthen vocabulary, math comprehension, and critical thinking skills. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Super SandCastle is an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.

Author : Ian Stewart
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780297607236
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.35/5 ( download)

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Download or read book What Shape is a Snowflake? written by Ian Stewart and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An enlightening vision of how the laws of mathematics find organic expression in the beauty and patterns of nature, written by an acclaimed mathematician and science writer.

Author : Philip Ball
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022633256X
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.67/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Patterns in Nature written by Philip Ball and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed science writer “curates a visually striking, riotously colorful photographic display…of physical patterns in the natural world” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Though at first glance the natural world may appear overwhelming in its diversity and complexity, there are regularities running through it, from the hexagons of a honeycomb to the spirals of a seashell and the branching veins of a leaf. Revealing the order at the foundation of the seemingly chaotic natural world, Patterns in Nature explores not only the math and science but also the beauty and artistry behind nature’s awe-inspiring designs. Unlike the patterns we create, natural patterns are formed spontaneously from the forces that act in the physical world. Very often the same types of pattern and form—such as spirals, stripes, branches, and fractals—recur in places that seem to have nothing in common, as when the markings of a zebra mimic the ripples in windblown sand. But many of these patterns can be described using the same mathematical and physical principles, giving a surprising unity to the kaleidoscope of the natural world. Richly illustrated with 250 color photographs and anchored by accessible and insightful chapters by esteemed science writer Philip Ball, Patterns in Nature reveals the organization at work in vast and ancient forests, powerful rivers, massing clouds, and coastlines carved out by the sea. By exploring similarities such as the branches of a tree and those of a river network, this spectacular visual tour conveys the wonder, beauty, and richness of natural pattern formation.

Author : Pete Jenkins
Publisher : Carson-Dellosa Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1643693174
Total Pages : 16 pages
Book Rating : 4.70/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Shapes in Nature written by Pete Jenkins and published by Carson-Dellosa Publishing. This book was released on 2018-11-16 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nature is amazing and filled with different shapes. Learn about the different shapes found in nature. Paired to the fiction title What Can I Make?.

Author : Christopher G. Williams
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 154 pages
Book Rating : 4.34/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Origins of Form written by Christopher G. Williams and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nature's facts essential to the designer's overall knowledge and understanding of form.

Author : Enric Sala
Publisher : Disney Electronic Content
ISBN 13 : 1426221029
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Nature of Nature written by Enric Sala and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this inspiring manifesto, an internationally renowned ecologist makes a clear case for why protecting nature is our best health insurance, and why it makes economic sense.

Author : Stefan Hildebrandt
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9780387979915
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.13/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Parsimonious Universe written by Stefan Hildebrandt and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1996-07-18 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why does nature prefer some shapes and not others? The variety of sizes, shapes, and irregularities in nature is endless. Skillfully integrating striking full-color illustrations, the authors describe the efforts by scientists and mathematicians since the Renaissance to identify and describe the principles underlying the shape of natural forms. But can one set of laws account for both the symmetry and irregularity as well as the infinite variety of nature's designs? A complete answer to this question is likely never to be discovered. Yet, it is fascinating to see how the search for some simple universal laws down through the ages has increased our understanding of nature. The Parsimonious Universe looks at examples from the world around us at a non-mathematical, non-technical level to show that nature achieves efficiency by being stingy with the energy it expends.