Science, which has long considered order and synchrony the exception rather than the rule in a chaotic universe, is beginning to come around. In his new book, Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order, Steven Strogatz, who is professor of applied mathematics at Cornell, describes the new science.

Synchrony, says Strogatz, shows up in the most unlikely of places: from satellite orbits to whizzing electrons, from the chirping of crickets to the tendency of women who live in close quarters or who spend a lot of time together to menstruate around the same time of the month.

Order is all around us, and scientists in diverse disciplines are constantly uncovering new examples of it. But Strogatz and his colleagues make a far more extraordinary claim: Order is not just possible, it is inevitable. In 1989 Strogatz, along with Boston College mathematician Rennie Mirollo, proved mathematically that any system of 'coupled oscillators' -- that is, entities capable of responding to each other's signals, be they crickets, electrons or celestial bodies -- will spontaneously self-organize. >from *In his book Sync, Cornell's Steven Strogatz writes compelling history of a scientific revolution long in the making*. Cornell news release, march 7, 2003

related context
> another world is happening: network-based movements. march 3, 2003
> >synchronization of pulse-coupled biological oscillators. Mirollo, R.E., and Strogatz, S.H. 1990.

imago
> crickets developing order to spontaneously self-organize