The algorithmic beauty of sea shells
By: by Hans Meinhardt
Edition: Second enlarged edition.
Series: The virtual laboratory; Virtual laboratory
Publisher: Springer
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Berlin
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] /
Number of pages: 236
ISBN-13: 9783662036174; 9783662036198
Subjects: Computer Appl. in Life Sciences; Computer Graphics; Computer simulation; Shells; Simulation and Modeling; Pattern formation (Biology); Computer Science
Description: The patterns on the shells of tropical sea snails are not only compellingly beautiful but also tell a tale of biological development. The decorative patterns are records of their own genesis, which follows laws like those of dune formation or the spread of a flu epidemic. Hans Meinhardt has analyzed the dynamical processes that form these patterns and retraced them faithfully in computer simulations. His book is exciting not only for the astonishing scientific knowledge it reveals but also for its fascinating pictures. An accompanying diskette with the corresponding algorithms offers wide scopes to those with a PC who whish to try their hand at simulating and varying the patterns.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-232) and index.

Print version record.
Table of contents: title: Shell patterns as dynamic systems; title: Pattern formation; title: Oscillation and travelling waves; title: Superposition of stable and periodic patterns; title: Meshwork of oblique lines and staggered dots; title: Branch initiation by global control; title: The big problem: two or more time-dependent patterns; title: Triangles; title: Parallel lines with tongues; title: Shell models in three dimensions; title: The computer program; title: Appendix: Pattern formation in the development of higher-level organisms.