Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface xiii
4. Prologue. Why I Might Never Have Written This Book xx
5. Chapter One. The Confluence of Nature and Mathematical Modeling 1
6. Chapter Two. Estimation: The Power of Arithmetic in Solving Fermi Problems 17
7. Chapter Three. Shape, Size, and Similarity: The Problem of Scale 31
8. Chapter Four. Meteorological Optics I: Shadows, Crepuscular Rays, And Related Optical Phenomena 57
9. Chapter Five. Meteorological Optics II: A “Calculus I” Approach to Rainbows, Halos, and Glories 80
10. Chapter Six. Clouds, Sand Dunes, and Hurricanes 118
11. Chapter Seven. (Linear) Waves of All Kinds 139
12. Chapter Eight. Stability 173
13. Chapter Nine. Bores and Nonlinear Waves 194
14. Chapter Ten. The Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio (τ) 213
15. Chapter Eleven. Bees, Honeycombs, Bubbles, and Mud Cracks 231
16. Chapter Twelve. River Meanders, Branching Patterns, and Trees 254
17. Chapter Thirteen. Bird Flight 295
18. Chapter Fourteen. How Did the Leopard Get Its Spots? 309
19. Appendix Fractals: An Appetite Whetter. . . 336
20. Bibliography 340
21. Index 356