Free Delivery Over $100
|
|
|||
|
||||
Awards
OverviewThe alarm calls of birds make them difficult for predators to locate, while the howl of wolves and the croak of bullfrogs are designed to carry across long distances. From an engineer's perspective, how do such specialized adaptations among living things really work? And how does physics constrain evolution, channeling it in particular directions? Writing with wit and a richly informed sense of wonder, Denny and McFadzean offer an expert look at animals as works of engineering, each exquisitely adapted to a specific manner of survival, whether that means spinning webs or flying across continents or hunting in the dark-or writing books. This particular book, containing more than a hundred illustrations, conveys clearly, for engineers and nonengineers alike, the physical principles underlying animal structure and behavior. Pigeons, for instance-when understood as marvels of engineering-are flying remote sensors: they have wideband acoustical receivers, hi-res optics, magnetic sensing, and celestial navigation. Albatrosses expend little energy while traveling across vast southern oceans, by exploiting a technique known to glider pilots as dynamic soaring. Among insects, one species of fly can locate the source of a sound precisely, even though the fly itself is much smaller than the wavelength of the sound it hears. And that big-brained, upright Great Ape? Evolution has equipped us to figure out an important fact about the natural world: that there is more to life than engineering, but no life at all without it. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Mark Denny , Alan McFadzeanPublisher: Harvard University Press Imprint: The Belknap Press Dimensions: Width: 15.60cm , Height: 3.10cm , Length: 23.50cm Weight: 0.778kg ISBN: 9780674048546ISBN 10: 0674048547 Pages: 400 Publication Date: 16 May 2011 Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General , Tertiary & Higher Education Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsReviewsBoth physiology primer and engineering textbook, Engineering Animals covers the basics of how physics constrains animal structure and function, all the while marveling at nature's exquisite and often surprising solutions... Engineering Animals is a celebration of nature's ingenuity...This is an engaging journey through animal adaptation for engineers and non-engineers alike.--Cian O'Luanaigh New Scientist (05/14/2011) Author InformationMark Denny is a retired aerospace engineer and the author of Froth: The Science of Beer. Alan McFadzean is an independent consultant. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
||||
