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The synchronized flashing of fireflies at night. The spiraling patterns of an aggregating slime mold. The anastomosing network of army-ant trails. The coordinated movements of a school of fish. Researchers are finding in such patterns--phenomena that have fascinated naturalists for centuries--a fertile new approach to understanding biological systems: the study of self-organization. This book, a primer on self-organization in biological systems for students and other enthusiasts, introduces readers to the basic concepts and tools for studying self-organization and then examines numerous examples of self-organization in the natural world. Self-organization refers to diverse pattern formation processes in the physical and biological world, from sand grains assembling into rippled dunes to cells combining to create highly structured tissues to individual insects working to create sophisticated societies. What these diverse systems hold in common is the proximate means by which they acquire order and structure. In self-organizing systems, pattern at the global level emerges solely from interactions among lower-level components. Remarkably, even very complex structures result from the iteration of surprisingly simple behaviors performed by individuals relying on only local information. This striking conclusion suggests important lines of inquiry: To what degree is environmental rather than individual complexity responsible for group complexity? To what extent have widely differing organisms adopted similar, convergent strategies of pattern formation? How, specifically, has natural selection determined the rules governing interactions within biological systems? Broad in scope, thorough yet accessible, this book is a self-contained introduction to self-organization and complexity in biology--a field of study at the forefront of life sciences research.
Biological systems. --- Self-organizing systems. --- Adamson, J. --- Attenborough, David. --- Bagnoli, P. --- Buck, E. --- Bénard convection. --- Craig, W. --- Downing, H. A. --- Fick's Law. --- Franks, N. R. --- Grassé, P. P. --- Hanson, F. E. --- Heinrich, B. --- Jeanne, R. L. --- Kauffman, S. A. --- Luciola pupilla (firefly). --- Maruyama, M. --- Myerscough, M. R. --- Oecophylla sp. --- Pardi, L. --- Partridge, B. L. --- Schneirla, T. C., Turillazzi, S. --- decentralized control. --- electric fish electrolocation. --- evolutionary theories. --- inclusive fitness theory.
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This book offers a comprehensive exploration of geochemical kinetics--the application of chemical kinetics to geological problems, both theoretical and practical. Geochemical Kinetics balances the basic theories of chemical kinetics with a thorough examination of advanced theories developed by geochemists, such as nonisothermal kinetics and inverse theories, including geochronology (isotopic dating), thermochronology (temperature-time history), and geospeedometry (cooling rates). The first chapter provides an introduction and overview of the whole field at an elementary level, and the subsequent chapters develop theories and applications for homogeneous reactions, mass and heat transfer, heterogeneous reactions, and inverse problems. Most of the book's examples are from high-temperature geochemistry, with a few from astronomy and environmental sciences. Appendixes, homework problems for each major section, and a lengthy reference list are also provided. Readers should have knowledge of basic differential equations, some linear algebra, and thermodynamics at the level of an undergraduate physical chemistry course. Geochemical Kinetics is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the mathematical treatment of geochemical questions.
Chemical kinetics --- Geochemistry --- Absorptivities. --- Activated complex. --- Activation energy. --- Advection. --- Arrhenius plot. --- Asymptotic cooling. --- Avogadro constant. --- Avrami equation. --- Backward reaction. --- Batch melting. --- Binary diffusivity. --- Boltzmann distribution. --- Catalyst. --- Chapman mechanism. --- Chemical reactions. --- Collision theory. --- Component exchange. --- Concordia. --- Conservation equations. --- Convective crystal growth. --- Cooling history. --- Darken equation. --- Decay chains. --- Decay reactions. --- Diffusion and flow. --- Diffusion distance. --- Diffusion. --- Diffusivity. --- Dodson’s equations. --- Eddy diffusion. --- Energy conservation. --- Equilibrium. --- Extinct nuclides. --- Falling sphere. --- Fick’s law. --- First-order precision. --- Ganguly’s method. --- Geochemical kinetics. --- Geochronology. --- Geospeedometry. --- Heat conduction. --- Heterogeneous reactions. --- Infrared spectroscopy. --- Integrated error function. --- Interstitial sites. --- Inverse problems. --- Isochrons. --- Jumping frequency. --- Kohlrausch’s law. --- Law of mass action. --- Many-body problems. --- Mass conservation. --- Nanoparticle aggregation.
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