This book is specially designed to get a basic idea about biomimicry as a solution for sustainable development, how animal and plant models become an ideal natural teacher to construct and design modern mans requirements without causing pollution. This book has nine chapters. The first section is devoted for introduction, the second for sustainable development, the third one for inspiration derived from plants (twenty-four examples), fourth one for inspiration derived from animals (thirty-five examples). The fifth chapter is devoted for research in biomimicry, and the sixth chapter is for development in biomimicry at the molecular level. The seventh one is for modern city planning by mimicking nature, with special reference to Lavasa, the first biomimicry town planning in India. The eighth chapter is for explanation of some case studies in biomimicry, and the last chapter is to inform the reader about some access point in biomimicry resources, followed by further study, and the last section is an index of the contents.
“Young readers will be captivated by the contemporary inventors and inventions featured, and inspired to incorporate biomimicry into their own designs.” —Miranda Paul, author of One Plastic Bag and Water is Water Who's the best teacher for scientists, engineers, AND designers? Mother nature, of course! When an inventor is inspired by nature for a new creation, they are practicing something called biomimicry. Meet ten real-life scientists, engineers, and designers who imitate plants and animals to create amazing new technology. An engineer shapes the nose of his train like a kingfisher's beak. A scientist models her solar cell on the mighty leaf. Discover how we copy nature's good ideas to solve real-world problems! WINNER AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books A National Science Teacher Association Best STEM Book “Mimic Makers reveals marvels of engineering inspired by nature with images that invite careful observation and explanations that are expressive, but never over simplified.” —Kim Parfitt, AP Biology and Environmental Science teacher, curriculum developer for Howard Hughes Medical Institute Biointeractive, and recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Math Teaching. “Amazing! . . . Love that the book features the scientists and inventors, and that there is a diverse set of them. —Janine Benyus, co-founder of the Biomimicry Institute
Repackaged with a new afterword, this "valuable and entertaining" (New York Times Book Review) book explores how scientists are adapting nature's best ideas to solve tough 21st century problems. Biomimicry is rapidly transforming life on earth. Biomimics study nature's most successful ideas over the past 3.5 million years, and adapt them for human use. The results are revolutionizing how materials are invented and how we compute, heal ourselves, repair the environment, and feed the world. Janine Benyus takes readers into the lab and in the field with maverick thinkers as they: discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when they're sick; learn how to create by watching spiders weave fibers; harness energy by examining how a leaf converts sunlight into fuel in trillionths of a second; and many more examples. Composed of stories of vision and invention, personalities and pipe dreams, Biomimicry is must reading for anyone interested in the shape of our future.
The scientific consensus is that our ability to understand human speech has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. After all, there are whole portions of the brain devoted to human speech. We learn to understand speech before we can even walk, and can seamlessly absorb enormous amounts of information simply by hearing it. Surely we evolved this capability over thousands of generations. Or did we? Portions of the human brain are also devoted to reading. Children learn to read at a very young age and can seamlessly absorb information even more quickly through reading than through hearing. We know that we didn't evolve to read because reading is only a few thousand years old. In Harnessed, cognitive scientist Mark Changizi demonstrates that human speech has been very specifically “designed" to harness the sounds of nature, sounds we've evolved over millions of years to readily understand. Long before humans evolved, mammals have learned to interpret the sounds of nature to understand both threats and opportunities. Our speech—regardless of language—is very clearly based on the sounds of nature. Even more fascinating, Changizi shows that music itself is based on natural sounds. Music—seemingly one of the most human of inventions—is literally built on sounds and patterns of sound that have existed since the beginning of time. From Library Journal: "Many scientists believe that the human brain's capacity for language is innate, that the brain is actually "hard-wired" for this higher-level functionality. But theoretical neurobiologist Changizi (director of human cognition, 2AI Labs; The Vision Revolution) brilliantly challenges this view, claiming that language (and music) are neither innate nor instinctual to the brain but evolved culturally to take advantage of what the most ancient aspect of our brain does best: process the sounds of nature ... it will certainly intrigue evolutionary biologists, linguists, and cultural anthropologists and is strongly recommended for libraries that have Changizi's previous book." From Forbes: “In his latest book, Harnessed, neuroscientist Mark Changizi manages to accomplish the extraordinary: he says something compellingly new about evolution.… Instead of tackling evolution from the usual position and become mired in the usual arguments, he focuses on one aspect of the larger story so central to who we are, it may very well overshadow all others except the origin of life itself: communication."
Covers the scientific principles, developments and recent technological advances of stimuli responsive materials for those new to and active in the field.
In Mimicking Nature's Fire, forest ecologists Stephen Arno and Carl Fiedler present practical solutions to the pervasive problem of deteriorating forest conditions in western North America.
"In this book, Gregory Unruh introduces readers to the biosphere rules - nature-inspired principles that will transform a business from a resource depleter to a resource reuser, Reconfiguring the value chain as a value cycle, Unruh explains his five principles of sustainable business, modeled after the cyclical nature of the biosphere. Drawing on scientific evidence and the experiences of top global companies, Unruh shows how business and environmentalism are not only compatible but inherently similar." "This book presents an integrated sustainability strategy that can be leveraged across a company's product lines for profitable economies of scope and scale. Implementation leads a company inexorably toward embedded sustainability, a state in which sustainability is internalized in a company's products and disappears as a managerial concern. Showcasing the stories of successful innovators, Earth, Inc. proves that applying the biosphere rules isn't a costly sacrifice but an incredible business opportunity." --Book Jacket.
When searching for genuinely sustainable building design and technology - designs that go beyond conventional sustainability to be truly restorative - we often find that nature got there first. Over 3.5 billion years of natural history have evolved innumerable examples of forms, systems, and processes that can be applied to modern green design. For architects, urban designers and product designers, this new edition of Biomimicry in Architecture looks to the natural world to achieve radical increases in resource efficiency. Packed with case studies predicting future trends, this edition also contains updated and expanded chapters on structures, materials, waste, water, thermal control and energy, as well as an all-new chapter on light. An amazing sourcebook of extraordinary design solutions, Biomimicry in Architecture is a must-read for anyone preparing for the challenges of building a sustainable and restorative future.
Mimicking nature - from science fiction to engineering realityHumans have always looked to nature's inventions as a source of inspiration. The observation of flying birds and insects leads to innovations in aeronautics. Collision avoidance sensors mimic the whiskers of rodents. Optimization algorithms are based on survival of the fittest, the seed-
