The
CSE logo, a stylized design of the Chambered Nautilus shell, symbolizes
our approach to the environment. The Nautilus, an incredibly striking
product of nature, has beautiful and informative mathematical properties.
Like a snail, the Chambered Nautilus builds its own house around itself.
But the nautilus lives only in the outermost part of its shell, which
it builds as it grows. It seals off the rest of its shell which it
no longer uses. As a result, the shell is like a series of rooms, each
of which the animal has lived in but abandoned when it became too large.
The nautilus creates a beautifully symmetric shell by forming chambers
that increase in size exponentially. The shape remains the same while
the volume increases. Thus this curious animal grows according to a
fixed mathematical rule. This unique shape has been studied by
many scientists and mathematicians throughout history including Descartes,
Newton and Bernoulli. How the beautiful geometry of this shell comes
about has been explained by the biologist D'arcy Thompson in his classic
book about the shape of living things, On Growth and Form.
Other
examples of this formula in nature are horns (of bulls, rams) or the
spiral path an insect travels when moving towards a source of light.The
relationship between the shape of the shell and the mathematical formula
describing the growth of the nautilus symbolizes the inherent rules
governing our natural world, and how we can use scientific knowledge
to improve our understanding of our environment. It symbolizes the
scientific method that underlies the CSE approach, as well as the appreciation
of nature’s beauty.
The
CSE logo, a stylized design of the Chambered Nautilus shell, symbolizes
our approach to the environment. The Nautilus, an incredibly striking
product of nature, has beautiful and informative mathematical properties.
Like a snail, the Chambered Nautilus builds its own house around itself.
But the nautilus lives only in the outermost part of its shell, which
it builds as it grows. It seals off the rest of its shell which it
no longer uses. As a result, the shell is like a series of rooms, each
of which the animal has lived in but abandoned when it became too large.
The nautilus creates a beautifully symmetric shell by forming chambers
that increase in size exponentially. The shape remains the same while
the volume increases. Thus this curious animal grows according to a
fixed mathematical rule. This unique shape has been studied by
many scientists and mathematicians throughout history including Descartes,
Newton and Bernoulli. How the beautiful geometry of this shell comes
about has been explained by the biologist D'arcy Thompson in his classic
book about the shape of living things, On Growth and Form. 
