The central thesis of this book is that tissues form when, as a result of their developmental history or current location, groups of cells within specific domains (the initial conditions) acquire new properties that render their existing organisation unstable. New structures then self-assemble as cells use these dynamic mechanisms within the context of local mechanical constraints (boundary conditions) to move to new, stable configurations (Chapter 7).

The set of morphogenetic mechanisms can be viewed as a toolkit, with cells using distinct subsets to form particular tissues. The following tables list the tools available to the two main cell types that build the early embryo, mesenchyme and epithelia, and it is worth noting that cell rearrangement is becoming the major mechanism for epithelial reorganisation. Although the list is long, I doubt that it is complete as I cannot see how these properties alone can account for complex shapes such as those of bones or the heart.