Toward a Quantitative Unifying Theory of Natural Design of Flow Systems: Emergence and Evolution

Abstract

Design happens everywhere, whether in animate objects (e.g., dendritic lung structures, bacterial colonies, and corals), inanimate patterns (river basins, beach slope, and dendritic crystals), social dynamics (pedestrian traffic flows), or engineered systems (heat dissipation in electronic circuitry). This “design in nature” often takes on remarkably similar patterns, which can be explained under one unifying Constructal Law. This chapter explores the unifying power of the Constructal Law and its applications in design generation and evolution, ranging from biology to geophysics.