The Gecko's Foot :Bio-inspiration: Engineering New Materials from Nature

3.82 ( 181 Ratings by Goodreads)
The Gecko's Foot

The Gecko's Foot :Bio-inspiration: Engineering New Materials from Nature

(Author)
3.82 (181 Ratings by Goodreads)
paperback
Published: 17 May, 2006
Standard worldwide delivery by Thu, July 16 - Tue, July 21
Order within 0
Condition: NEW
$30.36
Price includes shipping
Available 20+ in stock
- +
FREE Returns within 30 days

Description

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." When Frank Lloyd Wright said this, he probably wasn't envisioning self-cleaning surfaces, the photonic crystal, or Velcro. But nature has indeed yielded such inventions for those scientists and engineers who heeded the architect's words. The cutting-edge science of bio-inspiration gives way to architectural and product designs that mimic intricate mechanisms found in nature. In Peter Forbes's engaging book we discover that the spiny fruits of the cocklebur inspired the hook-and-loop fastener known as Velcro; unfolding leaves, insect wings, and space solar panels share similar origami folding patterns; the self-cleaning leaves of the sacred lotus plant have spawned a new industry of self-cleaning surfaces; and cantilever bridges have much in common with bison spines. As we continue to study nature, bio-inspiration will transform our lives and force us to look at the world in a new way.
See more

More Details

Type Book
ISBN13 9780393337976
ISBN10 0393337979
Number Of Pages 292
Item Weight 1000 g
Publisher / Reseller WW Norton & Co
Format paperback
See More +

Author's Bio

Peter Forbes is a translator, science writer, and editor of Scanning the Century: The Penguin Book of the Twentieth Century in Poetry. He lives in London.

Show more