What governs the shape of a spider's web, the movement of waves and the pattern of a leopard's coat? In What Shape is a Snowflake? Magical Numbers in Nature (Weidenfeld & Nicolson/W. H. Freeman, £20, $29.95) Ian Stewart attempts to explain these natural mysteries with the aid of mathematics.
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Natural maths. Nature 415, 839 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415839b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/415839b