Cats' Paws & Catapults: the Mechanical Worlds of Nature & People

Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People

Omschrijving

Nature and humans build their devices with the same earthly materials and use them in the same air and water, pulled by the same gravity. Why, then, do their designs diverge so sharply? Humans, for instance, love right angles, while nature's angles are rarely right and usually rounded. Our technology goes around on wheels-and on rotating pulleys, gears, shafts, and cams-yet in nature only the tiny propellers of bacteria spin as true wheels. Our hinges turn because hard parts slide around each other, whereas nature's hinges (a rabbit's ear, for example) more often swing by bending flexible materials. In this marvelously surprising, witty book, Steven Vogel compares these two mechanical worlds, introduces the reader to his field of biomechanics, and explains how the nexus of physical law, size, and convenience of construction determine the designs of both people and nature. "This elegant comparison of human and biological technology will forever change the way you look at each."-Michael LaBarbera, American Scientist
Gratis verzending vanaf
€ 19,95 binnen Nederland
Schrijver
Vogel, S.
Titel
Cats' Paws & Catapults: the Mechanical Worlds of Nature & People
Uitgever
W W Norton & Co Ltd
Jaar
1998
Taal
Engels
Pagina's
384
Gewicht
431 gr
EAN
9780393319903
Afmetingen
210 x 140 x 25 mm
Bindwijze
Hardback

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