Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People
by Steven Vogel
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Human technology has taken 10,000 years to develop; natures mechanical designs are billions of years old. Both technologies share the same physical environment but produce vastly different results. Human designers love right angles, but nature is typically rounded and its angles are diverse. We use wheels in numerous ways, yet nature's only true wheels lie in bacteria. We prefer to make surface ships, while nature swims. Our hinges turn because their parts slide, whereas natural hinges (such show more as a rabbit's ear) turn by bending their flexible materials. show lessTags
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How man and nature make things differently.
Much harder to decide what to take away from this work to apply to design. The author ignores how human technologies scaffold in ways that constrain your future choices. The emphasis of the book is on mechanical systems but much of the mechanics is now also subject to information driven compatibility.
But the subject matter of nature vs human design should be an academic discipline in its own right.
Much harder to decide what to take away from this work to apply to design. The author ignores how human technologies scaffold in ways that constrain your future choices. The emphasis of the book is on mechanical systems but much of the mechanics is now also subject to information driven compatibility.
But the subject matter of nature vs human design should be an academic discipline in its own right.
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Author Information
12 Works 764 Members
Steven Vogel (1940-2015) was James B. Duke Professor of biology at Duke University. He was one of the founders of comparative biomechanics, and in more than ten books he defined and popularized the field.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Ancas y palancas : mecánica natural y mecánica humana
- Original publication date
- 1998
- Dedication
- For Jane
- Publisher's editor
- Edwin Barber
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- 281
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- Reviews
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- Languages
- English, Finnish, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 2
