How wonderful are the rhythms of the world!
In nature, rhythms can be seen, heard, and even felt. The rhythms that we hear range from the soft singing of a bird to the loud roar of a lion, from the barking of a dog to the steady beating of your own heart. Each of these rhythms has its own pattern, and together they form a kind of natural music all around us.
Look at the stripes of a zebra or the bold pattern of a tiger. They are not random; they follow a regular rhythm that helps the animals hide in the grass or stand out to others of their kind. Watch the graceful neck of the giraffe moving as it reaches for leaves, or the jump of a monkey swinging through the trees. Even the clouds moving slowly across the sky or the circles spreading on water when you throw a stone have a rhythm of their own.
But not all rhythms are visible. The unseen rhythms of electromagnetic waves travel through the air and come right into your house, carrying your favorite programs to your TV or sending signals to your radio. These rhythms are invisible to our eyes, yet they influence much of modern life.
The earth itself moves in a steady rhythm as it revolves around the sun, just as all the other planets in the solar system do. The moon moves around the earth while also following the sun, creating the tides in the oceans and affecting the changing seasons. The rhythms of the sun and moon are powerful forces that affect plants, animals, and humans alike. Farmers, for example, still plant and harvest according to seasonal rhythms, and animals often follow natural cycles in their daily lives.
So, rhythms surround us everywhere. Some we can see, like the waves of the sea, the growth of plants, or the patterns on animal skins. Some we can hear, like birds singing or water flowing in a stream. And some rhythms are invisible, like the waves of light, sound, and electricity that move through our world, following precise patterns that scientists can measure. All these rhythms—seen and unseen, heard and unheard—make the world a more ordered, fascinating, and lively place.
