Product Description: The synchronized flashing of fireflies at night. The spiraling patterns of an aggregating slime mold. The anastomosing network of army-ant trails. The coordinated movements of a school of fish. Researchers are finding in such patterns--phenomena that have fascinated naturalists for centuries--a fertile new approach to understanding biological systems: the study of self-organization...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Biologists have long been intrigued and confounded by the complex issues in the evolution and ecology of the social behaviour of insects. The self-sacrifice of sterile workers in ant colonies has been particularly difficult for evolutionary biologists to explain...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)