Patterns in Nature [Paperback]

Peter S. Stevens (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316813311
• ISBN-13: 978-0316813310
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,249,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is elegant, enlightening and transforming., July 28, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Patterns in Nature (Paperback)

There is a book which is beautifully illustrated, easy to understand and one of those rare finds that will change the way you view the natural world forever. Stevens explores the recurring patterns (e.g., spirals, cracks, meanders) in the natural world and presents the reader with the math, science and above all, excellent diagrams and photographs which illustrate the elegant simplicity underlying these patterns. If your world has lost some of its wonder, here's an excellent way to get some of it back. Like Georg Gerster's eye opening shots of the earth from the air, "The Earth From Above", this book never should have been allowed to go out of print. If I had the money, I would reprint it myself. Mr. Hayden W. Mathews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating, March 5, 2004

By 

Barnaby Thieme (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Patterns in Nature (Hardcover)

I want to add my voice to the chorus of disbelievers who can't comprehend how this book went out of print. Patterns in Nature is the very essence of elegance - a simple idea with incredible range and explanatory power.

Why does the fracture pattern where your windshield was struck by a pebble have the same basic structure as a tree? Stevens' answer is that there are a small number of ways that energy can propogate through space given the nature of our universe. With this principle he explores the similarity in structure between a vast array of natural phenomena.

Written clearly and illustrated beautifully, this book has something tremendous to say and it is destined to be rediscovered as interest in systems theory continues to grow.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!, June 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Patterns in Nature (Paperback)

"Patterns in Nature" is superb popular science reading and viewing. The diagrams and pictures, always illustrative, never superfluous, guarantee the reader a complete experience. This book should never have been allowed to go out of print.