This page provides a list of resources and links to various subjects that relate to patterns in nature.
Aesthetic And Spiritual
- An idea from Neo-Confucian spirituality that could help us define Nature. A great blog on the “Li” – organizing principles in Nature .
- Gwen Meyer’s wonderfully spiritual blog where she joins her passion for nature’s patterns with her love for God.
- Cannon Beach Log — Soul refreshment from the Oregon Coast
- A wonderful video that uses the aesthetic senses to show relationships between patterns in nature.
- Fractal expressionism — the use of fractals in creating paintings, drawings, and other fine art.
- The Web a wonderful poem about connectivity and relationships in nature by Alison Hawthorne Deming
- Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, used nature as a metaphor to express his spirituality. Here are some excerpts from his writings.
- Thoreau’s chapter on solitude in Walden
- An incredibly beautiful video visualization of Nature By Numbers — Fibonnaci and others.
- No matter who your higher power might be, you will be moved by this video.
- Nature photography links
- William Graham
- Ken Conger
- Miguel Lasa
- Florian Schultz
- Art Wolfe
- Sights And Sounds Of The Southern Ocean — A nine minute video of animals and birds at the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island.
Behavior And Social Patterns
- Wikipedia on memes
- What is a meme ?
- Wikipedia on sociobiology
- George Boeree’s web page on sociobiology
- Wikipedia on epigenetics
- PBS Nova web page and video on epigenetics
Complex Systems
- An excellent video on complex systems
- A video on chaos theory.
- A good set of lecture slides on chaos
Interrelationships and Natural Systems
- Wikipedia on systems biology..
- Stephen Nachmanovitch writes about Gregory Bateson’s ideas on the pattern that connects.
- Stuttgart University on systems biology.
- Kevin Kelly’s online book about ‘vivisystems’
- Denis Noble’s great book on systems biology “The Music Of Life”.
- E.O.Wilson’s equally engaging book that emphasises a holistic approach to studying nature — “In Search Of Nature”.
Networks and Network Theory
- A documentary on networks – part 1
- A documentary on networks – part 2
- A documentary on networks – part 3
- A documentary on networks – part 4
- A documentary on networks – part 5
- Exploring Complex Networks by S. Strogatz .
- Wiki-Scale free networks .
- Wiki-Six degrees of separation .
- Complex Networks by L.A. Amaral, et.al. .
- Complex Networks, Structure, And Dynamics by Boccalleti, et.al. .
- 2010 Network Theory Lecture by Jari Chennai, et.al. .
- Small world experiments .
- The “New” Science of Networks by Duncan J. Watts .
Order In Nature
- A philosophical perspective on order
- U.S.National Park Service teacher guide on order in nature.
- Seeking To Recognize Order In Nature — E.P.Wigner.
Phyllotaxis, Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Ratio
- Fibonacci Numbers and Nature Part #1.
- Fibonacci Numbers and Nature Part #2.
- Phyllotaxis definition from Wikipedia.
- Phyllotaxis definition from Wolfram Research.
- Hans Meinhardt on Phyllotaxis.
- Wikipedia on the Golden Ratio.
- Extensive web site on the Golden Ratio.
- Math Is Fun — Golden Ratio.
- Math Is Fun — Fibonacci.
- Phyllotaxis as a self organizing process.
Self Organization In Nature
- The Algorithmic Botany Group studies the modeling, simulation, and visualization of plants.
- Cool School — a free fish schooling simulation from David Hooper.
- Boids by Craig Reynolds
- Cellular Automata in Biology and Medicine
- Mindspring – Cellular Automata
- Conway’s Game Of Life
- Conway’s Life Explained
- Mirek’s Cellebration — Download free CA demo software
- A collection of Steven Wolfram articles on Cellular Automata
- Rudy Rucker’s Cellular Automata web site
- Wikipedia on Self Organization
- Calresco on Self Organization
- When Is Self Organization Used In Biological Systems ?
- Scott Camazine’s lecture slides on self organization in biological systems.
Self Similarity – Fractals
- Fractals from Wikipedia.
- Fractals from Wolfram Research .
- Fractals in the biological sciences .
- An introduction to fractals .
- Yale University fractal pages .
- Chaos and fractals .
- A first introduction to fractals .
- Fractals Unleashed .
- Fractals described by the father of fractals – Benoit Mandelbrot
- Pictures of real fractals in nature .
- A blog on fractals and complexity. .
- Wikimedia’s take on fractals in nature. .
- A very basic page on fractal construction. .
- A simple explanation of self similarity. .
Size and Scaling
- Scaling Laws in Complex Systems — A lecture by Geoffrey West
- On The Scaling and Unity of Life – Lecture by Geoffrey West
- Of Mice and Elephants by George Johnson
- Size and Shape In Biology by T.F.Colton
- Rethinking Scale – An interview with Geoffrey West
- Size Matters: The Hiddern Mathematics of Life.
- The Origin of Universal Scaling Lawsin Biology by Geoffrey West
- Sizes of Organisms : The Surface Area To Volume Ratio
Symmetry In Nature
- A teaching resource on symmetry that includes both text and a video..
- Symmetry in nature.
- News article and video on a symmetry talk given by Marcus du Sautoy.
- Symmetry — A teacher’s resource.
