Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

RELATIONSHIPS

More than One Rule
in Operation
In many biological patterns the variation of the units is not random, but follows regular rules . . . . it raises another aspect of the modular principles, that of ^proportion. In this connection also we can find a vast range of different conditions among biological identities, just as we did in connection with patterns depending on the repetition of units. But probably the dominant characteristic of biological proportions is that any given form usually exhibits the simultaneous operation of several rules of proportion, rather than of only one. And in discussing these proportions it becomes extremely superficial to omit the time factor, since in the great majority of instances the proportions of a biological form change as it grows and develops. This is not quite always the case. For instance, Fig. 10 shows a shell which owes its beauty to the regularity of its shape, which arises from the constancy of the proportions of the spiral tube and of the angle at which it is coiled. Many snails, however, are not so modest, and their shells, even when based on a spiral of regular proportions, are ornamented with all sorts of excrescences, giving rise to forms which vary from the flowingly rhythmic to the baroque or rococo . . . . [p. 28] [Note: Images not included here.]

Waddington, C. H. "The Modular Principle and Biological Form." In Module, Proportion, Symmetry, Rhythm. Vision and Value series. Gyorgy Kepes, ed. New York: George Braziller, 1966.









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