Thread by @philipcball

Thomas Mann was fascinated by patterns and colours in nature. His "Doctor Faustus" has an astonishing chapter that describes several of them exquisitely. Here's a thread on this, starting with his description of structural colour in Morpho butterflies. (1/n)

Here he talks about camouflage patterns such as in the Dead Leaf Moth. (2/n)

And here, how butterflies and moths engage in Batesian mimicry. (3/n)

Here, a rather sweet take on the ornate structures of mollusc shells. (4/n)

This is about Chladni patterns. (5/n)

And of course, he could not ignore snowflakes. (See also "The Magic Mountain.") (6/n)

Finally, a wonderful description of - almost a recipe for - chemical gardens. (7/n)

And I can hardly desist from saying that all these things and more are described in my trilogy of books on shape, form and pattern in nature. (8/8)
philipball.co.uk/nature-s-patte…