Hierarchic Forms of Organization

In Chapter 3 we considered the kinds of constraints that limit the freedom of activity of the microscopic constituents of a structure and thereby help to determine and to maintain its macroscopic form and function. In this chapter and the two that follow, we consider four basic types of macroscopic forms that emerge from various combinations of these constraints: networks, hierarchies, nucleated structures, and organic structures. In this chapter we focus primarily on the hierarchic forms. In Chapters 5 and 6 we focus on the nucleate and the organic forms, respectively.