Cats' paws and catapults : mechanical worlds of nature and people
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Cats' paws and catapults : mechanical worlds of nature and people
（Penguin books）
Penguin Books, 1999
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-362) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Human designers love right angles, but nature prefers to be round and curved; we like to be dry, whereas nature tends to be wet; we use wheels in diverse ways, but nature's only true wheels occur in bacteria. This text introduces us to the world of biomechanics and explains how physical law and historical accident became our world's most supreme architects.
Table of Contents
- Noncoincident worlds
- two schools of design
- the matter of magnitude
- surfaces, angles and corners
- the stiff and the soft
- two routes to rigidity
- pulling versus pushing
- engines for the mechanical worlds
- puttign engines to work
- about pumps, jets and ships
- making widgets
- copying, inretrospect
- copying, present and prospective
- contrasts, convergences and consequences.
by "Nielsen BookData"