rowth and form of marine organisms inhabiting hard substrata, the G"marine sessile organisms," ischaracterized by anumber ofremarkable properties. One remarkable feature of these organisms is that many ofthem can be characterizedasmodularorganisms. Modularorganisms are typically built ofrepeated units, the modules, which might be a polyp in a coral colony or afrond in seaweeds. In most cases, the modulehas adistinctive form, while the growth form of the entire colony is frequently an indeterminate form. Indeterminategrowthindicatesthatthe same growthprocess mayresult in an infinite...

The beauty of plants has attracted the attention of mathematicians for Mathematics centuries. Conspicuous geometric features such as the bilateral sym and beauty metry of leaves, the rotational symmetry of flowers, and the helical arrangements of scales in pine cones have been studied most exten sively. This focus is reflected in a quotation from Weyl 159, page 3], "Beauty is bound up with symmetry. " This book explores two other factors that organize plant structures and therefore contribute to their beauty. The first is the elegance and relative simplicity of developmental algorithms, that...