Flow

This is the second of three books on nature's patterns, and some of the remarks I made about the first volume also apply to this one, notably that the format could have been greatly improved as a coffee table book with more colour illustrations. The point of departure of this book is Leonardo, whose drawings are illustrated. The author applies the same principles to fluids, grains and the movements of animals and people. There are chapters on water, sand dunes and the movement of large Numbers of people or animals, with many illustrations and diagrams. Two notable omissions in this otherwise comprehensive book are Otto Schwenk and his Anthroposophical followers like John Wilkes, and the work of Viktor Schauberger. These three people bring a much more dynamic and living approach to the subject, trying to understand the nature of water not only from the outside, but also through identification with its processes. In other words a quantitative rather than a purely quantitative approach.