Cats Paws And Catapults Mechanical Worlds Of Nature And People

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Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People

Author : Steven Vogel
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393352951
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (933 download)

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Book Synopsis Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People written by Steven Vogel and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2000-01-17 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Full of ideas and well-explained principles that will bring new understanding of everyday things to both scientists and non-scientists alike."—R. McNeill Alexander, Nature 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

Life's Devices

Author : Steven Vogel
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691209499
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

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Book Synopsis Life's Devices by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Life's Devices written by Steven Vogel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This entertaining and informative book describes how living things bump up against non-biological reality. "My immodest aim," says the author, "is to change how you view your immediate surroundings." He asks us to wonder about the design of plants and animals around us: why a fish swims more rapidly than a duck can paddle, why healthy trees more commonly uproot than break, how a shark manages with such a flimsy skeleton, or how a mouse can easily survive a fall onto any surface from any height. The book will not only fascinate the general reader but will also serve as an introductory survey of biomechanics. On one hand, organisms cannot alter the earth's gravity, the properties of water, the compressibility of air, or the behavior of diffusing molecules. On the other, such physical factors form both constraints with which the evolutionary process must contend and opportunities upon which it might capitalize. Life's Devices includes examples from every major group of animals and plants, with references to recent work, with illustrative problems, and with suggestions of experiments that need only common household materials.

The Life of a Leaf

Author : Steven Vogel
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226859398
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (268 download)

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Book Synopsis The Life of a Leaf by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book The Life of a Leaf written by Steven Vogel and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-10-17 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In its essence, science is a way of looking at and thinking about the world. In The Life of a Leaf, Steven Vogel illuminates this approach, using the humble leaf as a model. Whether plant or person, every organism must contend with its immediate physical environment, a world that both limits what organisms can do and offers innumerable opportunities for evolving fascinating ways of challenging those limits. Here, Vogel explains these interactions, examining through the example of the leaf the extraordinary designs that enable life to adapt to its physical world. In Vogel’s account, the leaf serves as a biological everyman, an ordinary and ubiquitous living thing that nonetheless speaks volumes about our environment as well as its own. Thus in exploring the leaf’s world, Vogel simultaneously explores our own. A companion website with demonstrations and teaching tools can be found here: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/sites/vogel/index.html

Vital Circuits

Author : Steven Vogel
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195082699
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis Vital Circuits by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Vital Circuits written by Steven Vogel and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1993 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why does dust collect on the blades of a fan? Why should you wear support hose on a long airplane flight? Vogel ranges across physics, fluid mechanics, and chemistry to show how an enormous system of pumps and pipes works to keep the human body functioning. Anyone curious about the workings of the body will want to read this book. 64 line drawings.

Made to Measure

Author : Philip Ball
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400865336
Total Pages : 468 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Made to Measure by : Philip Ball

Download or read book Made to Measure written by Philip Ball and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Made to Measure introduces a general audience to one of today's most exciting areas of scientific research: materials science. Philip Ball describes how scientists are currently inventing thousands of new materials, ranging from synthetic skin, blood, and bone to substances that repair themselves and adapt to their environment, that swell and flex like muscles, that repel any ink or paint, and that capture and store the energy of the Sun. He shows how all this is being accomplished precisely because, for the first time in history, materials are being "made to measure": designed for particular applications, rather than discovered in nature or by haphazard experimentation. Now scientists literally put new materials together on the drawing board in the same way that a blueprint is specified for a house or an electronic circuit. But the designers are working not with skylights and alcoves, not with transistors and capacitors, but with molecules and atoms. This book is written in the same engaging manner as Ball's popular book on chemistry, Designing the Molecular World, and it links insights from chemistry, biology, and physics with those from engineering as it outlines the various areas in which new materials will transform our lives in the twenty-first century. The chapters provide vignettes from a broad range of selected areas of materials science and can be read as separate essays. The subjects include photonic materials, materials for information storage, smart materials, biomaterials, biomedical materials, materials for clean energy, porous materials, diamond and hard materials, new polymers, and surfaces and interfaces.

Comparative Biomechanics

Author : Steven Vogel
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400847826
Total Pages : 640 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Comparative Biomechanics by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Comparative Biomechanics written by Steven Vogel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classic textbook on comparative biomechanics—revised and expanded Why do you switch from walking to running at a specific speed? Why do tall trees rarely blow over in high winds? And why does a spore ejected into air at seventy miles per hour travel only a fraction of an inch? Comparative Biomechanics is the first and only textbook that takes a comprehensive look at the mechanical aspects of life—covering animals and plants, structure and movement, and solids and fluids. An ideal entry point into the ways living creatures interact with their immediate physical world, this revised and updated edition examines how the forms and activities of animals and plants reflect the materials available to nature, considers rules for fluid flow and structural design, and explores how organisms contend with environmental forces. Drawing on physics and mechanical engineering, Steven Vogel looks at how animals swim and fly, modes of terrestrial locomotion, organism responses to winds and water currents, circulatory and suspension-feeding systems, and the relationship between size and mechanical design. He also investigates links between the properties of biological materials—such as spider silk, jellyfish jelly, and muscle—and their structural and functional roles. Early chapters and appendices introduce relevant physical variables for quantification, and problem sets are provided at the end of each chapter. Comparative Biomechanics is useful for physical scientists and engineers seeking a guide to state-of-the-art biomechanics. For a wider audience, the textbook establishes the basic biological context for applied areas—including ergonomics, orthopedics, mechanical prosthetics, kinesiology, sports medicine, and biomimetics—and provides materials for exhibit designers at science museums. Problem sets at the ends of chapters Appendices cover basic background information Updated and expanded documentation and materials Revised figures and text Increased coverage of friction, viscoelastic materials, surface tension, diverse modes of locomotion, and biomimetics

Design in Nature

Author : Adrian Bejan
Publisher : Anchor
ISBN 13 : 0307744345
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (77 download)

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Book Synopsis Design in Nature by : Adrian Bejan

Download or read book Design in Nature written by Adrian Bejan and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this groundbreaking book, Adrian Bejan takes the recurring patterns in nature—trees, tributaries, air passages, neural networks, and lightning bolts—and reveals how a single principle of physics, the constructal law, accounts for the evolution of these and many other designs in our world. Everything—from biological life to inanimate systems—generates shape and structure and evolves in a sequence of ever-improving designs in order to facilitate flow. River basins, cardiovascular systems, and bolts of lightning are very efficient flow systems to move a current—of water, blood, or electricity. Likewise, the more complex architecture of animals evolve to cover greater distance per unit of useful energy, or increase their flow across the land. Such designs also appear in human organizations, like the hierarchical “flowcharts” or reporting structures in corporations and political bodies. All are governed by the same principle, known as the constructal law, and configure and reconfigure themselves over time to flow more efficiently. Written in an easy style that achieves clarity without sacrificing complexity, Design in Nature is a paradigm-shifting book that will fundamentally transform our understanding of the world around us.

Biomimicry

Author : Janine M. Benyus
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0061958921
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (619 download)

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Book Synopsis Biomimicry by : Janine M. Benyus

Download or read book Biomimicry written by Janine M. Benyus and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-08-11 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds

Author : Steven Vogel
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691138060
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds written by Steven Vogel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates facets of the physical world, including the drag on small projectiles; the importance of diffusion and convection; the size-dependence of acceleration; the storage, conduction, and dissipation of heat; the relationship among pressure, flow, and choice in biological pumps; and how elongate structures tune their relative twistiness and bendiness. It considers design-determining factors and builds a bridge between the world described by physics books and the reality experienced by all creatures.

Prime Mover

Author : Steven Vogel
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 9780393324631
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (246 download)

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Book Synopsis Prime Mover by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Prime Mover written by Steven Vogel and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2003 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether we blink an eye or throw a ball, we are using a muscle. This text discusses how form and performance make these things happen - illustrating nature at work.

The Shark's Paintbrush

Author : Jay Harman
Publisher : Hachette UK
ISBN 13 : 1857889312
Total Pages : 291 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (578 download)

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Book Synopsis The Shark's Paintbrush by : Jay Harman

Download or read book The Shark's Paintbrush written by Jay Harman and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2013-06-25 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The wave of the future has been around since the beginning of times: it's called Nature. Let inventor and entrepreneur Jay Harman introduce you to stunning solutions to some of the world's thorniest problems. Why does the bumblebee have better aerodynamics than a 747? How can copying a butterfly wing reduce the world's lighting energy bill by 80%? How will fleas' knees and bees' shoulders help scientists formulate a near-perfect rubber? Today an interdisciplinary and international group of scientists, inventors and engineers is turning to nature to innovate and find elegant solutions to human problems. The principle driving this transformation is called biomimicry, and Harman shares a wide range of examples of how we're borrowing from natural models to invent profitable, green solutions to pressing industrial challenges. Aimed at a business audience, aspiring entrepreneurs, environmentalists and general science readers, The Shark's Paintbrush reflects a force of change in the new global economy that does more than simply gratify human industrial ambition; it teaches us how to live in harmony with nature and opens bright opportunities for a better future.

Why the Wheel Is Round

Author : Steven Vogel
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022638117X
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (263 download)

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Book Synopsis Why the Wheel Is Round by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Why the Wheel Is Round written by Steven Vogel and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-10-24 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A brilliant history of technology. . . . full of wonders of nature, human invention, history” and more (Wall Street Journal). There is no part of our bodies that fully rotates—be it a wrist or ankle or arm in a shoulder socket, we are made to twist only so far. And yet there is no more fundamental human invention than the wheel—a rotational mechanism that accomplishes what our physical form cannot. Throughout history, humans have developed technologies powered by human strength, complementing the physical abilities we have while overcoming our weaknesses. Providing a unique history of the wheel and other rotational devices—like cranks, cranes, carts, and capstans—Why the Wheel Is Round examines the contraptions and tricks we have devised in order to more efficiently move—and move through—the physical world. Steven Vogel combines his engineering expertise with his remarkable curiosity about how things work to explore how wheels and other mechanisms were, until very recently, powered by the push and pull of the muscles and skeletal systems of humans and other animals. Why the Wheel Is Round explores all manner of treadwheels, hand-spikes, gears, and more, as well as how these technologies diversified into such things as hand-held drills and hurdy-gurdies. Surprisingly, a number of these devices can be built out of everyday components and materials, and Vogel’s accessible and expansive book includes instructions and models so that inspired readers can even attempt to make their own muscle-powered technologies, like trebuchets and ballista. Appealing to anyone fascinated by the history of mechanics and technology as well as to hobbyists with home workshops, Why the Wheel Is Round offers a captivating exploration of our common technological heritage based on the simple concept of rotation. From our leg muscles powering the gears of a bicycle to our hands manipulating a mouse on a roller ball, it will be impossible to overlook the amazing feats of innovation behind our daily devices. Praise for Why the Wheel Is Round “Reading this book, I found myself being pulled along by the curiosity of Vogel as he connects the power provided by the muscles of humans and animals with the immense variety of rotating objects invented over the course of human history. Despite the book’s title, wheels are only one part of the story. Firmly grounded in Vogel’s deep understanding of physical principles, the book is as informative as it is entertaining.” —Richard Marsh, Brown University “This book, like Vogel’s previous titles, is written in a conversational style that makes it accessible to laypeople and undergraduates, even though it addresses complex topics. It is appealing both as a popular science title and as an educational reading tool for graduate students, faculty, and other researchers interested in the field of biomechanics. Recommended.” —Choice

Social Judgment and Decision Making

Author : Joachim I. Krueger
Publisher : Psychology Press
ISBN 13 : 1136988580
Total Pages : 317 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (369 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Judgment and Decision Making by : Joachim I. Krueger

Download or read book Social Judgment and Decision Making written by Joachim I. Krueger and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2012-05-04 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together classic key concepts and innovative theoretical ideas in the psychology of judgment and decision-making in social contexts. The chapters of the first section address the basic psychological processes underlying judgment and decision-making. The guiding question is "What information comes to mind and how is it transformed?" The second section poses the question of how social judgments and decisions are to be evaluated. The chapters in this section present new quantitative models that help separate various forms of accuracy and bias. The third section shows how judgments and decisions are shaped by ecological constraints. These chapters show how many seemingly complex configurations of social information are tractable by relatively simple statistical heuristics. The fourth section explores the relevance of research on judgment and decision making for specific tasks of personal or social relevance. These chapters explore how individuals can efficiently select mates, form and maintain friendship alliances, judiciously integrate their attitudes with those of a group, and help shape policies that are rational and morally sound. The book is intended as an essential resource for senior undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, and practitioners.

The Gecko’s Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature's Book

Author : Peter Forbes
Publisher : HarperCollins UK
ISBN 13 : 0007405472
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The Gecko’s Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature's Book by : Peter Forbes

Download or read book The Gecko’s Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature's Book written by Peter Forbes and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2010-10-07 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A cutting-edge science book in the style of ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’ and ‘Chaos’ from an exciting and accessible voice in popular science writing.

Yoga Anatomy

Author : Leslie Kaminoff
Publisher : Human Kinetics
ISBN 13 : 1492583413
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (925 download)

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Book Synopsis Yoga Anatomy by : Leslie Kaminoff

Download or read book Yoga Anatomy written by Leslie Kaminoff and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2011-10-28 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best-selling anatomy guide for yoga is now updated, expanded, and better than ever! With more asanas, vinyasas, full-color anatomical illustrations, and in-depth information, the second edition of YogaAnatomy provides you with a deeper understanding of the structures and principles underlying each movement and of yoga itself. From breathing to inversions to standing poses, see how specific muscles respond to the movements of the joints; how alterations of a pose can enhance or reduce effectiveness; and how the spine, breathing, and body position are all fundamentally linked. Whether you are just beginning your journey or have been practicing yoga for years, Yoga Anatomy will be an invaluable resource—one that allows you to see each movement in an entirely new light. With Yoga Anatomy, Second Edition, authors Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews, both internationally recognized experts and teachers in anatomy, breathing, and bodywork, have created the ultimate reference for yoga practitioners, instructors, and enthusiasts alike.

The Manga Guide to Physics

Author : Hideo Nitta
Publisher : No Starch Press
ISBN 13 : 1593271964
Total Pages : 251 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis The Manga Guide to Physics by : Hideo Nitta

Download or read book The Manga Guide to Physics written by Hideo Nitta and published by No Starch Press. This book was released on 2009-05-01 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Megumi is an all-star athlete, but she's a failure when it comes to physics class. And she can't concentrate on her tennis matches when she's worried about the questions she missed on the big test! Luckily for her, she befriends Ryota, a patient physics geek who uses real-world examples to help her understand classical mechanics—and improve her tennis game in the process! In The Manga Guide to Physics, you'll follow alongside Megumi as she learns about the physics of everyday objects like roller skates, slingshots, braking cars, and tennis serves. In no time, you'll master tough concepts like momentum and impulse, parabolic motion, and the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. You'll also learn how to: –Apply Newton's three laws of motion to real-life problems –Determine how objects will move after a collision –Draw vector diagrams and simplify complex problems using trigonometry –Calculate how an object's kinetic energy changes as its potential energy increases If you're mystified by the basics of physics or you just need a refresher, The Manga Guide to Physics will get you up to speed in a lively, quirky, and practical way.

Like Sex with Gods

Author : Bayla Singer
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
ISBN 13 : 9781585442560
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (425 download)

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Book Synopsis Like Sex with Gods by : Bayla Singer

Download or read book Like Sex with Gods written by Bayla Singer and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2003-05-08 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Human flight is not a simple matter of science and technology. It is a continuing epic of dreams and obsession, of yearning and striving to harness the intellect in the service of the emotions." In Like Sex with Gods: An Unorthodox History of Flight, Bayla Singer offers a unique approach to humanity's fascination with flying. Rather than merely tracing the factual prehistory of flight up to the success of the Wright Brothers, Bayla Singer considers the interaction and influence of our dreams, fantasies, culture, and technology on the age-old quest to fly. This enlightening study begins with the deities and other denizens of the heavens that humanity has created in its religion, literature, and art. At first a monopoly of the gods, flight came to interest humanity as a way to free itself from the physical and intellectual bonds of the earth. The myth of flight eventually gives way to the pursuit of actual flight. Singer shows in compelling detail the many flying machines that have been created, including balloons, gliders, and kites. The accomplishment of the Wright Brothers and our successful trips into space are merely stops on a continuing journey, as our ancient dream of flight continues to push us to new and loftier places. Filled with compelling stories and detailed illustrations, this book provides absorbing reading for aviation experts, those fascinated with the intimate relationship between technology and culture, and all of us who have even a passing interest in flying.