Biomimicry: Inventions Inspired by Nature Hardcover – Illustrated, August 1, 2011

It was cool to see the different inventions that were inspired by the natural world.

donated to school

My first graders love this book with the cool pictures even though they can not read the whole thing they are so interested!

Good mixture of colorful illustrations and text that is easy to read and well organized under 18 headings listed on page 5. Glossary on page 39 defines 31 terms from Amino acids to Transistors. Index on page 40 has four columns of page references for items from abalone shells to Wright, Orville and Wilbur.

This book would be wonderful for kids, or even for an adult who yearns for the days of the How and Why types of wonderbooks. It introduces the relatively new field of biomimicry-- the study of animals to understand their engineering specialties, in a concise, readable, and understandable way. Although it is aimed at small children, I pass this one around in my 300-level invertebrate zoology class on the first day. The simplicity assures my students that the ideas are not too complex, and it helps them to understand that zoology is more than simply a course they need to get through. It's a course that can help them find an organism that sparks excitement by its abilities..

Reviews had led me to believe this was a serious book covering biomimicry in its various forms. It's a childrens book, so just be aware of that before you purchase.

A bit hokey on the whole "Mother Nature" stuff (may as well go whole-hog and call her Gaia, eh?), but science has interesting things to teach us about solving problems in new (old) and natural ways. This is an exciting book, with lots of well-written information and clever illustrations. Could this book give your young scientists great ideas for science fair projects? Yes, indeed.Great vocabulary in this book, including: amino acids, antibiotics, autism, bactreia, biomimicry, camouflage, decompose...