Li: Dynamic Form in Nature (Mathemagical Ancient Wizdom)

I'm a collage artist. I've been intrigued by assymmetrical or strangely symmetrical patterns in Nature, all of my life. But I never knew things as disparate, for example, as the veins in marble, the shape of a coastline, the cracks in a dried-up river bed, & the spots on a tropical fish, all have something in common: they're ENERGY expressing itself as FORM. That, in a nutshell, is Li. David Wade has done a wonderful job of pulling together twenty-some different Li phenomena and giving each one a name. These subsets of Li are presented as little two-page chapters: on the left is the text, sometimes with little illustrations under it, and on the right are anywhere from 2 to 6 examples of that type of Li pattern. I especially like it that he tells you very specifically what medium each of the patterns was found in. Great book! Very inspiring for anyone fascinated by Nature, anyone with a creative job or hobby, anyone who loves to look at patterns, anyone who likes reading and learning about the wonders of our world, even anyone who just wants to pick up some cool new vocabulary words & savor some cool quotations. Wade gives a reference or two as well, if you want to do further exploring of these patterns. I've already ordered four more copies of this book, to give as gifts to people and to cut up for my collages.

Shows many fascinating patterns from Nature

So glad to have this wonderful book; about these forms that repeat throughout natures on many scales from the microscopic to macroscopic, arranged by types, almost archetypal types, some stabilizing, some decaying --dynamic so not necessarily in a final form. Have used this book extensively in my teaching and in my making art and writing. Inherent patterns to things, quasi symmetrical forms and patterns --what the world, what the universe looks like. How things cluster, how things disperse, forming patterns in clustering and dispersals. Geometric forms mostly; imperfect (quasi-symmetrical) geometric forms. Dynamic, so moving, changing, in progress. Glad to have this book again. Things fork (and "forks" also fork).

This book, like all Wooden Books this author has seen, is more than fantastic: it is a compacted journey through some of the most profound aspects of our world. Li: Dynamic Forms in Nature illustrates that the patterns that we see on a daily basis have not only been noticed before, but in the case of the Chinese, have been commented on and contemplated for many millenia. Amazing read, amazing for the collection, and amazing illustrations open a door to unbelievable "eureka" moments. Get it!

I love the "little wooden books." They are very thin, and the pictures could have deeper/darker contrast for easier viewing. That said, they always are very interesting, and contain amazing observations.

These books are the most fascinating books I have ever purchased. I have them on display because they are one of those things that people cannot resist looking through because they are so interesting. If you can manage it, track all of them down and get them all!

I bought this book to use as inspiration for my fiber art. It's a delightful little volume with all kinds of cool images. Bound & printed beautifully too!

This book is a thoughtful look at patterns of all sorts. The text accompanying the picture is concise and helpful, but not overwhelming.This is a book one can open to any page and just let the mind wander. The world of Li is more complex and beautiful than I had imagined.

What I like abut these little booklets are that they try to make available some fascinating new aspects of science and art for people who would simply not look at anything which investigates these aspects in any depth.This is a little book on Li, meaning a relation between pattern and principle so that Li means a "dynamic formation" or really something which has been captured as it is being created. It seems to be a kind of interaction between form and energy.Each two page section briefly describes something of interest which demonstrates Li and the opposing page shows these aspects in photographs. Consider for example the following: nerve cell branching, bacterial growth patterns, surface patterns in convection cells, vascular cell structures in plants, stress cracks in drying mud.A wonderful little book which may even lead to real advances in science or art. For that alone this set of booklets are gems.

I bought this book for myself as I am a creative and artistic person and I loved every page. I have not heard of the word LI before and wonder what the character in Chinese would be?

very happy with the service you provide. solid.

Nice books

beautiful book, great little addition.