For centuries, artists, biologists and mathematicians have been inspired by the recurring patterns of the plant world: the exquisite symmetry of flowers, the sweeping spirals of seeds, spines and ...

The reason patterns often appear in nature is simple: The same basic physical or chemical processes occur in many patterned substances and organisms as they form. Whether in plants and animals or ...

Curiosity about a mistake that left tiny dots on a germanium wafer with evaporated metal films led to the discovery of beautiful spiral patterns etched on the surface of the semiconductor by a ...