"Wretch Fossil" <
wretch...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:e704ce4b-47cf-479a...@b10g2000pbd.googlegroups.com...
Have you considered that they look alike for the same reasons
a branching tree looks like a vascular system, which looks like
crystal growth, which looks like a neural net? They may have
similar forms, that doesn't mean they're similar systems.
But form under similar rules of operation.
You should spend some time with L-Systems, and see how
natural forms can be modeled mathematically with very
simple deterministic equations. The common element is
that the output feeds back into the input.
Java applet Tree Branching
http://www.mizuno.org/applet/branching/
Brownian tree
"Brownian trees are mathematical models of dendritic structures
associated with the physical process known as
diffusion-limited aggregation"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_tree
Diffusion-limited aggregation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion-limited_aggregation
L-Neuron: Generation and Description of Dendritic Morphology
"The primary goal of the L-Neuron project is to create virtual neurons
that are anatomically indistinguishable from their real counterparts....
The fact that the rules are local means that they establish correlations
among geometrical parameters (e.g. a dendritic branch's diameter
and taper) independent of their overall position in the tree.
The term recursive refers to the fact that, as a branch grows, it stems
other branches that follow the same rules. Therefore the same
simple algorithm can be reiterated many times as the dendritic tree
develops more and more bifurcations..."
http://krasnow1.gmu.edu/cn3/L-Neuron/index.htm
L-system structure
"The recursive nature of the L-system rules leads to self-similarity
and thereby fractal-like forms are easy to describe with an L-system.
Plant models and natural-looking organic forms are easy to define,
as by increasing the recursion level the form slowly 'grows' and
becomes more complex. Lindenmayer systems are also popular
in the generation of artificial life."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-system
Algorithmic Botany
http://algorithmicbotany.org/
Jonathan
"To my quick ear the leaves conferred;
The bushes they were bells;
I could not find a privacy
From Nature's sentinels.
In cave if I presumed to hide,
The walls began to tell;
Creation seemed a mighty crack
To make me visible."
By E Dickinson
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