According to its definition, synergetics is concerned with the cooperation of indi- vidual parts of a system that produces macroscopic temporal, spatial or functional structures. A good deal of the volumes published within this series dealt with the formation of truly macroscopic structures which we can s. ee with our eyes. A common scheme could be developed to understand the formation of many patterns through self-organization. In particular, we have to use concepts which go beyond conventio- nal thermodynamics. New ideas became crucial. We have to study kinetic processes, and often few...