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On floral symmetries

On floral symmetries Acta Biotheoretica 42: 181-186, 1994. 9 1994 KluwerAcademic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. C.P. Bruter Math6matiques, Universit6 Paris 12 1. INTRODUCTION: KEPLER'S PROJECT How does Nature fill up space? This question has implicitly been attacked by the Greeks, by the atomists, the philosophers of the Pythagorean school and by Plato, who in his Timeus fills the world with moving, regular solids. In conjunction with the (yet embryonic) development of crystallography at the beginning of the sixteenth century, about 1609, J. Kepler writes an essay on the The New Year's gift, or sexangular snow (Strena, seu de nive sexangula). Kepler does not only treat the form of the snow crystal, but also extends his reflection to the forms of the vegetal world, inquiring on the presence of pentamery and the symmetry of the sixth order. According to Kepler, following Platonic tradition, natural forces and geometry are responsible of the observed forms. The introduction of natural forces into the geometry is a problem which is not considered. In his essay, Kepler explicitly deals with alveolus of the honey comb, pips of pomegranates, peas, and petals of flowers. The floral pentamery comes from the enfolding of the golden section ratio, the Fibonacci http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Acta Biotheoretica Springer Journals

On floral symmetries

Acta Biotheoretica , Volume 42 (3) – Nov 13, 2004

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References (9)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright
Subject
Philosophy; Philosophy of Biology; Evolutionary Biology
ISSN
0001-5342
eISSN
1572-8358
DOI
10.1007/BF00709489
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Acta Biotheoretica 42: 181-186, 1994. 9 1994 KluwerAcademic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. C.P. Bruter Math6matiques, Universit6 Paris 12 1. INTRODUCTION: KEPLER'S PROJECT How does Nature fill up space? This question has implicitly been attacked by the Greeks, by the atomists, the philosophers of the Pythagorean school and by Plato, who in his Timeus fills the world with moving, regular solids. In conjunction with the (yet embryonic) development of crystallography at the beginning of the sixteenth century, about 1609, J. Kepler writes an essay on the The New Year's gift, or sexangular snow (Strena, seu de nive sexangula). Kepler does not only treat the form of the snow crystal, but also extends his reflection to the forms of the vegetal world, inquiring on the presence of pentamery and the symmetry of the sixth order. According to Kepler, following Platonic tradition, natural forces and geometry are responsible of the observed forms. The introduction of natural forces into the geometry is a problem which is not considered. In his essay, Kepler explicitly deals with alveolus of the honey comb, pips of pomegranates, peas, and petals of flowers. The floral pentamery comes from the enfolding of the golden section ratio, the Fibonacci

Journal

Acta BiotheoreticaSpringer Journals

Published: Nov 13, 2004

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