Product Description

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.

Steven Vogel teaches at Duke University.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #273631 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.com Review
"Life is what biology's all about. Technology is something else altogether. Or so I believed before I got into a kind of biology that's about technology as well as life," begins biomechanics expert Steven Vogel in the preface to Cats' Paws and Catapults. Vogel examines the "mechanical worlds of nature and people" in such chapters as "The Stiff and the Soft" and "The Matter of Magnitude." Lots of line-drawing illustrations help readers understand the examples used to answer questions of animal and machine efficiency, design and repair. Vogel clearly loves the puzzles of biology--why, for instance, do daffodil stems bend at only one precise spot? This book is filled with intriguing answers to such hidden questions, and curious readers will eagerly dive into Vogel's investigations of whether nature or human design is superior and why the two technologies have diverged so much. --Therese Littleton

From Library Journal
Nature often comes up with simpler solutions to engineering problems than do human engineers. Does that mean that nature's technology is superior? Arguing that nature can be improved upon, Vogel's comparison of biological and human-made technologies shows how and why.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The Washington Post
If you've ever wondered why civilization keeps trying to build a better mousetrap when evolution has already perfected the house cat, this is the book for you....By the end, you have grown so accustomed to using engineering to understand nature, and natural criteria to evaluate human constructions, that you'll never look at a tree or trestle in the same way again.

Customer Reviews

A captivating look at the natural and the synthetic
What a pleasurable and stimulating book! Vogel is one of those rare authors who can communicate the essence of a complex technical field without either dumbing it down or making it so complex as to be unapproachable to the lay reader. "Cat's Paws and Catapults" is just full of elegant, clear text and beautiful pen-and-ink illustrations that make the difficult clear.

Vogel begins by comparing nature's solutions to problems of structure, propulsion and so forth with the creations of man, illustrating the differences and the similarities in how the two evolve. He differs with those philosophers who have argued that within nature might be found the ideal solutions to the problems of engineering and design, and gives convincing examples to support his case. He works though issues in structure, transport, proplsion and so on showing the differnt ways in which nature and man arrive at solutions, and argues why each may or may not be optimal.

One chapter is devoted to the question of scale, and how it influences design. For example, the houses built by humans are, despite all their nails and other fasteners, mainly held together by gravity. Things like nails and mortar serve mainly to keep bits from sliding off each other. That's not possible when building something the size of a bacterium; at that scale, gravity is essentially negligible.

Scale is similarly important in building a flying machine. Aircraft and insects fly in very different environments. Airplanes must fly fast to overcome gravity, whereas insects fly slowly, in an environment where drag is the main force to be overcome.

And that's just one small section. There are chapters on surfaces and angles, on soft versus hard, on pulling versus pushing, on the problem of making copies and many other topics as well.

As I read "Cat's Paws" I found myself making a tremendous number of penciled notes in the margin, arguing with some points and agreeing with others. It's not that there was that much I disagreed with, but rather that the book engaged me to the point that I felt I was in a dialogue with the author. It's that good.

If you're the kind of person who can't resist taking something apart to see what makes it work, buy this book. If you're fascinated by the workings of the natural world, buy this book. If you're just looking for a really good example of non-fiction writing in the best traditions of John McPhee, Tracy Kidder or Jeremy Bernstein, buy this book. You will not be disappointed.

Arguments against the idea that Mother (nature) knows best
Vogel's book attempts to refute the assertion that many the "techie" or the laymen make regarding the world's greatest innovations. Most will instantly assume that Mother Nature is the queen of all things brilliant when it comes to design, however this book has a different angle. Rather than touting Mother's praises, Vogel takes an analytic look at devices both natural and man-made and compares them. He discusses the truly divergent processes by which nature evolves and human engineering is refined, and points out a few cases where convergent solutions have emerged. A great book for any engineer who's also a fan of late night Discovery Channel.

Fascinating! How nature and humans make things differently.
This book proved to be unexpectedly fascinating. It presented a wide-ranging comparison of human technology with the way nature gets things done. Several great questions were asked: e.g. why do humans use metals so much, but not nature?

Examples cover a huge range of nature. His coverage is authoritative, well-documented and balanced. It was very refreshing to read a nature book with such a different perspective.