Cats' paws and catapults : mechanical worlds of nature and people
著者
書誌事項
Cats' paws and catapults : mechanical worlds of nature and people
Norton, c1998
- pbk
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注記
Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-362) and index
Height of pbk.: 21 cm
内容説明・目次
- 巻冊次
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ISBN 9780393046410
内容説明
Which is more efficient, a 747 or a bird in flight? Which is stronger, a vine or a rope? Which is better designed, a lobster claw or a pair of pliers? Who builds better, nature or us? Human technology has taken a mere 10,000 years or so to develop; nature's selected designs--the look and function of animals and plants--are billions of years old. Although the two technologies share the same physical environment--the same building materials, gases, and minerals; the same temperature range; and the same force of gravity--they produce vastly different results. Human designers love right angles, but nature chooses to be round, curved, and without right angles. Humans find metals the most marvelous of materials, but no structure in nature is metallic. We use rotating wheels in diverse ways, but nature's only true wheels come in bacteria. We prefer to make surface ships, while nature swims. Our hinges turn because their parts slide, while natural hinges turn because their structure bends, like a rabbit's ears. Man-made machines have hot combustion engines; nature does its work at local temperatures. Questions arise from these differences. Does nature have some essential superiority? Why have the two technologies taken such separate courses? Cats' Paws and Catapults is about the way living things work--how they walk, run, jump, fly, and grow. In short, this book introduces the reader to the field of biomechanics and explains how physical law and historical accident became our world's supreme architects.
- 巻冊次
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pbk ISBN 9780393319903
内容説明
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
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