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

a
A

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


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.Bio-inspiration is a form of engineering but not in the conventional sense. Extending beyond our established and preconceived notions, scientists, architects and engineers are looking at imitating nature by manufacturing 'wet' materials such as spider silk or the surface of the gecko's foot.The amazing power of the gecko's foot has long been known – it can climb a vertical glass wall and even walk upside down on the ceiling – but no ideas could be harnessed from it because its mechanism could not be seen with the power of optical microscopes. Recently however the secret was solved by a team of scientists in Oregon who established that the mechanism really is dry, and that it does not involve suction, capillary action or anything else the lay person might imagine. Each foot has half a million bristles and each bristle ramifies into hundreds of finer spatula-shaped projections. The fine scale of the gecko's foot is beyond the capacity of conventional microengineering, but a team of nanotechnologists have already made a good initial approximation.The gecko's foot is just one of many examples of this new 'smart' science. We also discover, amongst other things, how George de Mestral's brush with the spiny fruits of the cocklebur inspired him to invent Velcro; how the shape of leaves opening from a bud has inspired the design of solar-powered satellites; and the parallels between cantilever bridges and the spines of large mammals such as the bison.The new 'smart' science of Bio-inspiration is going to produce a plethora of products over the next decades that will transform our lives, and force us to look at the world in a completely new way. It is science we will be reading about in our papers very soon; it is the science of tomorrow's world.










The Gecko’s Foot


How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature’s Book








Peter Forbes








In memory of my father

Leonard Harry Forbes (1916–1991)




Table of Contents


Cover Page (#u702d29c9-a6b0-5f61-b6a3-de6c171f9528)

Title Page (#ubb1e4a31-9697-5abb-9329-462a3a442c15)

CHAPTER ONE Something New Under the Sun (#u187855d5-7a37-5535-be56-71e60412f384)

CHAPTER TWO The Great Sacred Lotus Cleans Up (#ua976e0e0-5cf2-5e43-97ae-d8d976b81249)

CHAPTER THREE Nature’s Nylon (#ue2e1cffd-2e1c-505e-91af-284c834d33d5)

CHAPTER FOUR Clinging to the Ceiling (#ud97bbba4-a3c7-5b6b-a2f2-0ab86101b403)

CHAPTER FIVE The Gleam in Nature’s Eye (#u9a637aee-92e4-50a8-83ed-f88d3a6092f9)

CHAPTER SIX The Molecular Erector Set (#u6e3d55ec-22a3-548c-b813-5cd908672966)

CHAPTER SEVEN Insects Can’t Fly (#u90047bcf-853e-5216-9f6a-05932bdf1605)

CHAPTER EIGHT Origami for Engineers (#u8bf5ec47-8520-5353-aa8f-e7b2721ff870)

CHAPTER NINE The Push and Pull Building System (#u9a991c5a-ac2e-5143-8f76-bbc9a4a7e369)

CHAPTER TEN Designing the Future (Naturally) (#u41f13bc6-6f0f-5c2c-accf-e61ab57e252c)

NOTES (#u076c6a67-e813-5463-986b-713c1ee24812)

FURTHER READING (#uf1ed5aa2-66a2-54c4-ba34-91022552c17c)

INDEX (#u949add49-70c7-5750-a519-9d6daa6e7ddd)

Acknowledgments (#u2bc5a072-3b6c-5cda-b096-52309668a760)

About the Author (#u48f07f2b-b7fa-5be8-b7c6-3278363bb749)

Praise (#u27a71f1b-1e07-55b5-adbc-7607de9fa86a)

Copyright (#u284956b9-dda7-5cf3-ae95-d4291023f1f6)

About the Publisher (#u8d46cc0d-ba4e-5c0e-8e9d-8913945cc3c2)





Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Получить полную версию книги.


Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию (https://www.litres.ru/peter-forbes/the-gecko-s-foot-how-scientists-are-taking-a-leaf-from-nature/) на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.



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.Bio-inspiration is a form of engineering but not in the conventional sense. Extending beyond our established and preconceived notions, scientists, architects and engineers are looking at imitating nature by manufacturing 'wet' materials such as spider silk or the surface of the gecko's foot.The amazing power of the gecko's foot has long been known – it can climb a vertical glass wall and even walk upside down on the ceiling – but no ideas could be harnessed from it because its mechanism could not be seen with the power of optical microscopes. Recently however the secret was solved by a team of scientists in Oregon who established that the mechanism really is dry, and that it does not involve suction, capillary action or anything else the lay person might imagine. Each foot has half a million bristles and each bristle ramifies into hundreds of finer spatula-shaped projections. The fine scale of the gecko's foot is beyond the capacity of conventional microengineering, but a team of nanotechnologists have already made a good initial approximation.The gecko's foot is just one of many examples of this new 'smart' science. We also discover, amongst other things, how George de Mestral's brush with the spiny fruits of the cocklebur inspired him to invent Velcro; how the shape of leaves opening from a bud has inspired the design of solar-powered satellites; and the parallels between cantilever bridges and the spines of large mammals such as the bison.The new 'smart' science of Bio-inspiration is going to produce a plethora of products over the next decades that will transform our lives, and force us to look at the world in a completely new way. It is science we will be reading about in our papers very soon; it is the science of tomorrow's world.

Как скачать книгу - "The Gecko’s Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature’s Book" в fb2, ePub, txt и других форматах?

  1. Нажмите на кнопку "полная версия" справа от обложки книги на версии сайта для ПК или под обложкой на мобюильной версии сайта
    Полная версия книги
  2. Купите книгу на литресе по кнопке со скриншота
    Пример кнопки для покупки книги
    Если книга "The Gecko’s Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature’s Book" доступна в бесплатно то будет вот такая кнопка
    Пример кнопки, если книга бесплатная
  3. Выполните вход в личный кабинет на сайте ЛитРес с вашим логином и паролем.
  4. В правом верхнем углу сайта нажмите «Мои книги» и перейдите в подраздел «Мои».
  5. Нажмите на обложку книги -"The Gecko’s Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature’s Book", чтобы скачать книгу для телефона или на ПК.
    Аудиокнига - «The Gecko’s Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature’s Book»
  6. В разделе «Скачать в виде файла» нажмите на нужный вам формат файла:

    Для чтения на телефоне подойдут следующие форматы (при клике на формат вы можете сразу скачать бесплатно фрагмент книги "The Gecko’s Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature’s Book" для ознакомления):

    • FB2 - Для телефонов, планшетов на Android, электронных книг (кроме Kindle) и других программ
    • EPUB - подходит для устройств на ios (iPhone, iPad, Mac) и большинства приложений для чтения

    Для чтения на компьютере подходят форматы:

    • TXT - можно открыть на любом компьютере в текстовом редакторе
    • RTF - также можно открыть на любом ПК
    • A4 PDF - открывается в программе Adobe Reader

    Другие форматы:

    • MOBI - подходит для электронных книг Kindle и Android-приложений
    • IOS.EPUB - идеально подойдет для iPhone и iPad
    • A6 PDF - оптимизирован и подойдет для смартфонов
    • FB3 - более развитый формат FB2

  7. Сохраните файл на свой компьютер или телефоне.

Последние отзывы
Оставьте отзыв к любой книге и его увидят десятки тысяч людей!
  • константин александрович обрезанов:
    3★
    21.08.2023
  • константин александрович обрезанов:
    3.1★
    11.08.2023
  • Добавить комментарий

    Ваш e-mail не будет опубликован. Обязательные поля помечены *