Citation

Werner BT. Science 1999; 284(5411): 102-104.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, American Association for the Advancement of Science)

DOI

10.2307/2899145

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Patterns in nature, such as meandering rivers and sand dunes, display complex behavior seemingly at odds with their simplicity of form. Existing approaches to modeling natural landform patterns, reductionism and universality, are incompatible with the nonlinear, open nature of natural systems. An alternative modeling methodology based on the tendency of natural systems to self-organize in temporal hierarchies is described.