I did not know what the tittle of this book was when I bought it. Neither did I know who the hell the author was! I did not matter and it does not matter. "the gecko's foot", is an intersting book.
The book is about how scientists have borrowed concepts from nature. Although, it does not mention it, the book is actually about 'creating materials based on natural materials, plants and animals'.
For example, water drops never stick to Taro leaf (ಕೆಸವಿನ ಎಲೆ) (Elephant-ear/Colocasia esculenta). This is true with Lotus as well. Hence the so called Lotus Effect. The scientists have used the priciple behind this effect to create slef cleaning spoons. i.e. we can dip the spoon in honey and honey does not stick to the spoon! Famous velcro tapes are a similar invention.
The book discusses numerous such materials and explains the bio-inspiration.behind them. The author drags the subject around and sometimes loses focus. Peter Forbes talks about how bio-inspired industries productised inventions, what happened to the business and also anecdotes related to his visits, which are boaring. Otherwise, the book is good. I struggled to complete it as the author spoke too much about business and less about science.
I am feeling generous today. I will send this book by post ,at my own cost, to the person who first expresses interest to read, by leaving a comment bellow this blog post or by sending an email. Wish you happy DeepavaLi. I would also welcome any book exchange offers.
THE BOOK IS GONE and has been claimed!
The book is about how scientists have borrowed concepts from nature. Although, it does not mention it, the book is actually about 'creating materials based on natural materials, plants and animals'.
For example, water drops never stick to Taro leaf (ಕೆಸವಿನ ಎಲೆ) (Elephant-ear/Colocasia esculenta). This is true with Lotus as well. Hence the so called Lotus Effect. The scientists have used the priciple behind this effect to create slef cleaning spoons. i.e. we can dip the spoon in honey and honey does not stick to the spoon! Famous velcro tapes are a similar invention.
The book discusses numerous such materials and explains the bio-inspiration.behind them. The author drags the subject around and sometimes loses focus. Peter Forbes talks about how bio-inspired industries productised inventions, what happened to the business and also anecdotes related to his visits, which are boaring. Otherwise, the book is good. I struggled to complete it as the author spoke too much about business and less about science.
I am feeling generous today. I will send this book by post ,at my own cost, to the person who first expresses interest to read, by leaving a comment bellow this blog post or by sending an email. Wish you happy DeepavaLi. I would also welcome any book exchange offers.
THE BOOK IS GONE and has been claimed!
i donno if I got the tone (of the book) correct!! Anyways... I feel the truth is we are not creating anything new, just playing around with what we have around us. Like art tries to imitate life (nature i would say), in a way science is also doing the same, and also science only has been trying to know whats all this around us. If you look well enough nature has the solution for all yer problems. Happy Deepavali :)
ReplyDeletebook?
ReplyDeletetempting!! :)
ReplyDeletemay be not this one...thanks.
btw liked the Erhu and Tabla duo, Nice.
Erhu thing just happened! I loved it. You can see me waving and having fun!
ReplyDeleteoh yes :)
ReplyDeleteInterestin :-)
ReplyDelete