The Parsimonious Universe: Shape and Form in the Natural World
- ISBN-10
- 0387979913
- ISBN-13
- 9780387979915
- Category
- Science
- Pages
- 330
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1996-07-18
- Publisher
- Springer Science & Business Media
- Authors
- Stefan Hildebrandt, Anthony Tromba
Description
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.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 1996-08-01
- - pages
- Paperback
- Copernicus
Similar books
-
The Parsimonious Universe: Shape and Form in the Natural World
By S. Hildebrandt, A. TrombaThe Parsimonious Universe: Shape and Form in the Natural World
-
Global Analysis of Minimal Surfaces
By Ulrich Dierkes, Stefan Hildebrandt, Anthony Tromba... 1905 (cf. also Dombrowski [2], and General investigations of curved surfaces. Raven Press, New York, 1965) Gergonne, J.D. 1. Questions propos ́ees/r ́esolues. Ann. Math. Pure Appl. 7, 68, 99–100, 156, 143–147 (1816) Gerhardt, C. 1.
-
History of Mathematics
By Jeremy Gray, Vagn Lundsgaard HansenThe Theme on History of Mathematics discusses: Mathematics in Egypt and Mesopotamia; History of Trigonometryto 1550; Mathematics in Japan; The Mathematization of The Physical Sciences-Differential Equations of Nature; A Short History of ...
-
Proofs from THE BOOK
By Martin Aigner, Günter M. ZieglerThe picture of Fermat is reproduced from Stefan Hildebrandt and Anthony Tromba : The Parsimonious Universe . Shape and Form in the Natural World , Springer - Verlag , New York 1996 . The portrait of Ernst Witt is from volume 426 ( 1992 ) ...
-
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing
By Lawrence M. KraussProvocative, challenging, and delightfully readable, this is a game-changing look at the most basic underpinning of existence and a powerful antidote to outmoded philosophical, religious, and scientific thinking.
-
Rethinking Environmental Law: Why Environmental Laws Should Conform to the Laws of Nature
By Laitos, Jan G.This forward-thinking book offers a creative and organic alternative to traditional but ultimately unsuccessful environmental rules.
-
Early American Cartographies
By Martin BrucknerIndian Nations, Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States, the Dutch used the site they acquired for ... that Indians borrowed it from Europeans and grafted it onto their retrospective account of a historical encounter ...
-
Value Analysis: Second Revised Edition
By Carlos FallonWe will see in Chapter 7 how the parsimonious universe of inorganic matter is running down, cooling off, while the generous universe of organic matter moves from disordered atoms to ordered molecules, from the cold slime of the earth to ...
-
Oxford Users' Guide to Mathematics
By Eberhard Zeidler, W. Hackbusch, Hans Rudolf SchwarzThe Oxford Users' Guide to Mathematics is one of the leading handbooks on mathematics available.
-
Nature, Design, and Science: The Status of Design in Natural Science
By Del RatzschExplores the question of whether or not concepts and principles involving supernatural intelligent design can occupy any legitimate place within science.