'Patterns' aims to deliver a high-impact, large-scale, outdoor exhibition that will explore, through a series of glorious full-colour images and sculpture, the science of pattern formation in nature. Launched at the end of January 2013 and running for 12 weeks, 'Patterns' be the flagship public offering of our 25th Anniversary Festivals, linking to a suite of activities across Scotland in celebration of the Scottish Government's 'Year of Natural Scotland'. Free, open and accessible, the exhibition will provide a valuable platform for reaching new audiences. It will form a valuable part of our continued attempts to make science and technology easily accessible to those not necessarily engaged with, or targeted by, most traditional science communication activity. Curated from a selection of world-class collections, a selection of up to 45 images and a number of specially chosen sculptural works will reveal some of the myriad of eye-popping visual formations that colour and pattern our world and will explain the role that the laws of maths and physics - the forces of nature - play in the manifestation of this astonishing order and regularity. From the patterns on a butterfly's wings, to the windblown ripples of desert sand, the allure of snowflakes and crystals, and the spirals of galaxies, our world is full of beauty, symmetry and complexity. Science and technology can not only explain WHY this is the case but can - through the use of cutting-edge imagery techniques - also reveal these patterns in all their glory. Choosing a number of these general themes, 'Patterns' will: - Provide a beautiful and arresting visual demonstration of nature's underlying order. - Reveal how mathematical and geometric principles act as a kind of pattern book from which nature constructs complex and sophisticated structures. - Demystify the exciting secrets of just how patterns come into being; how the repetition of simple rules leads to the formation of some of nature's most intriguing patterns in both living and non-living system. - Showcase the work of artists/photographers whose work is inspired by nature's underlying structure and form. - Demonstrate the vital role that science and technology play in making these patterns visible and explaining their genesis. 2013 is the Year of Natural Scotland and Edinburgh International Science Festival aims to tie this event to that overarching national objective to promote public interest and engagement in nature in science to align with a growing awareness and enthusiasm for the Natural Scotland agenda.