Self-organization in Biological Systems

Scott Camazine, Jean-Louis Deneubourg, Nigel R. Franks, James Sneyd, Guy Theraula, Eric Bonabeau

Princeton University Press, Sep 17, 2003 - Science - 538 pages

The synchronized flashing of fireflies at night. The spiraling patterns of an aggregating slime mold. The anastomosing network of army-ant trails. The coordinated movements of a school of fish. Researchers are finding in such patterns--phenomena that have fascinated naturalists for centuries--a fertile new approach to understanding biological systems: the study of self-organization. This book, a primer on self-organization in biological systems for students and other enthusiasts, introduces readers to the basic concepts and tools for studying self-organization and then examines numerous examples of self-organization in the natural world.


Self-organization refers to diverse pattern formation processes in the physical and biological world, from sand grains assembling into rippled dunes to cells combining to create highly structured tissues to individual insects working to create sophisticated societies. What these diverse systems hold in common is the proximate means by which they acquire order and structure. In self-organizing systems, pattern at the global level emerges solely from interactions among lower-level components. Remarkably, even very complex structures result from the iteration of surprisingly simple behaviors performed by individuals relying on only local information. This striking conclusion suggests important lines of inquiry: To what degree is environmental rather than individual complexity responsible for group complexity? To what extent have widely differing organisms adopted similar, convergent strategies of pattern formation? How, specifically, has natural selection determined the rules governing interactions within biological systems?


Broad in scope, thorough yet accessible, this book is a self-contained introduction to self-organization and complexity in biology--a field of study at the forefront of life sciences research.

What people are saying

User Review -

More about this book can be found in the personal website of Scott Camazine. This was one of the best books I have ever read. It is also useful for readers who are not necessarily familiar with biological topics.

Contents

• Aims and Scope of the Book: 2
• Introduction to Biological SelfOrganization: 5
• What Is SelfOrganization?: 7
• How SelfOrganization Works: 15
• Characteristics of SelfOrganizing Systems: 29
• Alternatives to SelfOrganization: 47
• Why SelfOrganization?: 63
• Investigation of SelfOrganization: 69
• Misconceptions about SelfOrganization: 88
• Case Studies: 93
• Pattern Formation in Slime Molds and Bacteria: 95
• Feeding Aggregations of Bark Beetles: 121
• Synchronized Flashing among Fireflies: 143
• Fish Schooling: 167
• Nectar Source Selection by Honey Bees: 189
• Trail Formation in Ants: 217
• The Swarm Raids of Army Ants: 257
• Colony Thermoregulation in Honey Bees: 285
• Comb Patterns in Honey Bee Colonies: 309
• Wall Building by Ants: 341
• Termite Mound Building: 377
• Construction Algorithms in Wasps: 405
• Dominance Hierarchies in Paper Wasps: 443
• Conclusions: 483
• Lessons Speculations and the Future of SelfOrganization: 485
• Notes: 495
• References: 497
• Index: 525

Popular passages

Page 217 - Go to the Ant, thou Sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.‎

Page 89 - I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.‎

Page 189 - HOW doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day From every opening flower...‎

Page 69 - One of the principal objects of theoretical research in any department of knowledge is to find the point of view from which the subject appears in its greatest simplicity.‎

Page 38 - Biologists have been puzzled by the fact that the amount of information stored in the genes is much smaller than the amount of information needed to describe the structure of the adult individual. The puzzle is now solved by noticing that it is not necessary for the genes to carry all the information regarding the adult structure, but it suffices for the genes to carry a set of rules to generate the information. This can be illustrated by a model. Let us imagine, for the sake of simplicity, a two-dimensional...‎

Page 143 - The Glowworms . . . represent another shew, which settle on some Trees, like a fiery cloud, with this surprising circumstance, that a whole swarm of these insects, having taken possession of one Tree, and spread themselves over its branches, sometimes hide their Light all at once, and a moment after make it appear again with the utmost regularity and exactness, as if they were in perpetual Systole and Diastole.‎

Page 41 - Benard instability is a striking example of instability giving rise to spontaneous self-organisation; the instability is due to a vertical temperature gradient set up in a horizontal liquid layer. The lower face is maintained at a given temperature, higher than that of the upper. As a result of these boundary conditions, a permanent heat flux is set up, moving from bottom to top. For small...‎

Page 144 - Imagine a tenth of a mile of river front with an unbroken line of [mangrove] trees with fireflies on every leaf flashing in synchronism, the insects on the trees at the ends of the line acting in perfect unison with those between. Then, if one's imagination is sufficiently vivid, he may form some conception of this amazing spectacle.‎

Page 41 - The convection motion produced actually consists of the complex spatial organization of the system. Millions of molecules move coherently, forming hexagonal convection cells of a characteristic size.‎

Page 69 - We cannot directly recognise the elementary sensations of which it is composed, as we can distinguish the component notes of a musical chord. A colour, therefore, must be regarded as a single thing, the quality of which is capable of variation. To bring a quality within the grasp of exact science, we must conceive it as depending on the values of one or more variable quantities, and the first step in our scientific progress is to determine the number of these variables which are necessary and sufficient...‎

About the author

Scott Camazine is the author of The Naturalist's Year and Velvet Mites and Silken Webs. Jean-Louis Deneubourg is Research Fellow at the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research and at the Centre for Non-Linear Phenomena and Complex Systems at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, where he is also Professor of Behavioral Ecology. Nigel R. Franks is Professor of Animal Behavior and Ecology at the University of Bristol and the coauthor of The Social Evolution of Ants (Princeton). James Sneyd is Associate Professor of Mathematics at Massey University, New Zealand and the coauthor of Mathematical Physiology. Guy Theraulaz is Research Fellow at the National Center for Scientific Research in Toulouse, France, and at Paul Sabatier University. Eric Bonabeau is Chief Scientist at EuroBios in Paris, France. Bonabeau and Theraulaz are coauthors of Swarm Intelligence: From Natural to Artificial Systems.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Self-organization in Biological Systems; Princeton Studies in Complexity
• Authors: Scott Camazine, Jean-Louis Deneubourg, Nigel R. Franks, James Sneyd, Guy Theraula, Eric Bonabeau
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2003
• ISBN: 0691116245, 9780691116242
• Length: 538 pages
• Subjects: Science / Life Sciences / Biology