" Winfree wrote equations for his system of oscillators, describing how fast each one moves through its cycle. At any instant, an oscillator’s speed is determined by three contributions: its preferred pace, which is proportional to its natural frequency; its current sensitivity to any incoming influences (which depends on where it is in its cycle); and the total influence exerted by all the other oscillators (which depends on where they all are in their cycles). "

― Steven H. Strogatz , Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order