MORPHOGENESIS
Alan Turing's and Fritz Zwicky's concepts of morphogenesis or pattern formation are actually from entirely different fields. Turing explains how a natural system creates patterns based on local interactions (chemical waves spreading). Zwicky explains how a human mind can create an exhaustive inventory of patterns (solutions) by using a rigorous, systematic method. Turing is about scientific explanation; Zwicky is about systematic invention.
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What is Morphogenesis?
Morphogenesis (from the Greek words morphê meaning "shape" and genesis meaning "creation") is the biological process that dictates how an organism, a tissue, or a cell develops its shape and structure. It is one of the three fundamental aspects of developmental biology, along with tissue growth control and cellular differentiation.
ALAN TURING: Reaction-Diffusion (Biological Morphogenesis)
Turing's work on pattern formation, published in 1952, provided a mathematical model for how uniform chemical systems can spontaneously generate complex, non-uniform patterns. Turing was defining how patterns physically form in nature. (e.g. spots or stars and stripes).
FIELD:
Theoretical Biology / Applied Mathematics
THE MECHANISM: Reaction-Diffusion System
It involves two hypothetical chemical substances, called morphogens: an activator (which promotes its own creation and that of the pattern) and the inhibitor (which diffuses faster and shuts down the activator over a wide area).
THE RESULT: Turing Pattern
This model predicts patterns like stripes (zebra), spots (leopard), and whorls. The pattern is determined by the ratio of the diffusion rates of the two chemicals. The artistic and creative implication of Turing's model is the dynamic creation and emergence of patterns. The idea that shape and color patterns are generated by the precise timing and speed of two competing forces. The geometry is inherent to the rules of the system, not pre-programmed. the shape is the logic.
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FRITZ ZWICKY: Morphological Box (General Problem-Solving)
Zwicky, a brilliant but eccentric astrophysicist, developed the "Morphological Box" (also called Morphological Analysis) as a creative problem-solving technique, not a theory about the natural sciences. Zwicky was defining a method for generating all possible solutions to complex problem (e.g. how to build a spaceship).
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THE METHOD: Decomposition and Combination
The core problem is broken down into independent, critical parameters (dimensions), and then all possible variations (states) for each parameter are listed. All combinations of these states are then systematically explored.
THE RESULT: A Matrix of Possibilities
This matrix (the morphological box) contains all conceivable solutions, even non-sensical ones. A framework for ensuring you explore every single possible permutation of an idea before deciding on one. The order and structure are used to map out pure creative potential, allowing the user to see combinations they wouldn't have thought of intuitively. The user then logically prunes the non-viable solutions. Zwicky used this to conceive novel propulsion systems.
FIELD:
Astrophysics / Systematic Invention