Spontaneous pattern formation in nonlinear dissipative systems far from equilibrium occurs in a variety of settings in nature and technology, and has applications ranging from nonlinear optics through solid and fluid mechanics, physical chemistry and chemical engineering to biology. This book explores the forefront of current research, describing in-depth the analytical methods that elucidate the complex evolution of nonlinear dissipative systems.

This book presents a comprehensive review of various aspects of the novel and rapidly developing field of active matter, which encompasses a wide variety of self-organized self-driven energy-consuming media or agents. Most naturally occurring examples are of biological origin, spanning all scales from intracellular structures to swimming and crawling cells and microorganisms, to living tissues, bacterial colonies and flocks of birds. But the field also encompasses artificial systems, from colloids to soft robots. Intrinsically out of equilibrium and free of constraints of time-reversal symmetry, such systems display a range of surprising and unusual behaviors. In this book, the author emphasizes connections between fluid-mechanical, material, biological and technological aspects of active matter. He employs a minimum of mathematical tools, ensuring that the presentation is accessible to a wider scientific community. Richly illustrated, it gives the reader a clear picture of this fascinating field, its diverse phenomena and its open questions.

This book provides working tools for the study and design of nonlinear dynamical systems applicable in physics and engineering. It offers a broad-based introduction to this challenging area of study, taking an applications-oriented approach that emphasizes qualitative analysis and approximations rather than formal mathematics or simulation. The author, an internationally recognized authority in the field, makes extensive use of examples and includes executable Mathematica notebooks that may be used to generate new examples as hands-on exercises. The coverage includes discussion of mechanical models, chemical and ecological interactions, nonlinear oscillations and chaos, forcing and synchronization, spatial patterns and waves. Key Features: Written for a broad audience, avoiding dependence on mathematical formulations in favor of qualitative, constructive treatment Extensive use of physical and engineering applications Incorporates Mathematica notebooks for simulations and hands-on self-study Provides a gentle but rigorous introduction to real-world nonlinear problems Features a final chapter dedicated to applications of dynamical systems to spatial patterns The book is aimed at student and researchers in applied mathematics and mathematical modelling of physical and engineering problems. It teaches to see common features in systems of different origins, and to apply common methods of study without losing sight of complications and uncertainties related to their physical origin.

This book is about morphogenesis as the genesis of forms. It is not restricted to plants growing from seed or animals developing from an embryo (although these do supply the most abundant examples) but also addresses kindred processes, from inorganic to social to biomorphic technology. It is about our morphogenetic universe: unplanned, unfair and frustratingly complicated but benevolent in allowing us to emerge, survive, and inquire into its laws.

This book provides working tools for the study and design of nonlinear dynamical systems applicable in physics and engineering. It offers a broad-based introduction to this challenging area of study, taking an applications-oriented approach that emphasizes qualitative analysis and approximations rather than formal mathematics or simulation. The author, an internationally recognized authority in the field, makes extensive use of examples and includes executable Mathematica notebooks that may be used to generate new examples as hands-on exercises. The coverage includes discussion of mechanical models, chemical and ecological interactions, nonlinear oscillations and chaos, forcing and synchronization, spatial patterns and waves. Key Features: Written for a broad audience, avoiding dependence on mathematical formulations in favor of qualitative, constructive treatment Extensive use of physical and engineering applications Incorporates Mathematica notebooks for simulations and hands-on self-study Provides a gentle but rigorous introduction to real-world nonlinear problems Features a final chapter dedicated to applications of dynamical systems to spatial patterns The book is aimed at student and researchers in applied mathematics and mathematical modelling of physical and engineering problems. It teaches to see common features in systems of different origins, and to apply common methods of study without losing sight of complications and uncertainties related to their physical origin.

This book presents a comprehensive review of various aspects of the novel and rapidly developing field of active matter, which encompasses a wide variety of self-organized self-driven energy-consuming media or agents. Most naturally occurring examples are of biological origin, spanning all scales from intracellular structures to swimming and crawling cells and microorganisms, to living tissues, bacterial colonies and flocks of birds. But the field also encompasses artificial systems, from colloids to soft robots. Intrinsically out of equilibrium and free of constraints of time-reversal symmetry, such systems display a range of surprising and unusual behaviors. In this book, the author emphasizes connections between fluid-mechanical, material, biological and technological aspects of active matter. He employs a minimum of mathematical tools, ensuring that the presentation is accessible to a wider scientific community. Richly illustrated, it gives the reader a clear picture of this fascinating field, its diverse phenomena and its open questions.

This book is about morphogenesis as the genesis of forms. It is not restricted to plants growing from seed or animals developing from an embryo (although these do supply the most abundant examples) but also addresses kindred processes, from inorganic to social to biomorphic technology. It is about our morphogenetic universe: unplanned, unfair and frustratingly complicated but benevolent in allowing us to emerge, survive, and inquire into its laws.

This book is a personal account of some aspects of the emergence of modern science, mostly from the viewpoint of those branches of physics which provided the much needed paradigm shift of "more is different" that heralded the advent of complexity science as an antidote to the purely reductionist approach in fundamental physics. It is also about the humans that have helped to shape these developments, including personal reminiscences and the realization that the so-called exact sciences are inevitably also a social endeavour with all its facets. Served by the razor-sharp wit of the author, this erudite ramble is meant to be neither comprehensive nor systematic, but its generous insights will give the inquisitive academically trained mind a better understanding of what science, and physics in particular, could or should be about.