Adapt: How Humans Are Tapping into Nature's Secrets to Design and Build a Better Future

More about engineering apps than science. Uses what is apparently the journalistic formula: interview the subject, include a description of his background, discuss a few pertinent questions, etc. Applies the same format over and over. Got rather tiresome to me after awhile.

some very complicated info in the book could use illustrations to give you a better understanding. Otherwise a thought provoking look at bio-inspired design with its many radically new advantages and its occasional failures.

LOVE YOU AMINA!!!!!

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's chock full of information, and the writing is generally quite good, but in a couple of chapters the connection between "nature's secrets" and the human future seem not entirely connected--I think Chapter 7, on the search for an artificial leaf, is the main problem. This isn't so easy to describe, but part of it is the stories about researchers sometimes get in the way of the science. The book could also use some graphics, photos and diagrams to better explain the subjects. The book isn't really the unraveling of nature's secrets so much as the search to understand how aspects of the living world might inspire researchers' interest in and development of innovative technologies that will improve the future.The book is broken into sections on materials, movement, systems architecture, and sustainability (this would be the improved future, sustaining human existence without destroying the planet). Chapter 1 looks at how cuttlefish change color so quickly (and while colorblind) and how that might relate to fashion and military equipment; there's more to it that that, including some complex materials science. Chapter 2 discusses how sea cucumbers and squid might help with surgical implants, too much to go into here but it really is interesting and had great potential.Chapters 3 and 4 discuss animal movement, and how that might help with designing robots with more effective movement. Chapter 5 looks at termite mounds from the standpoint of architecture--and a main point is that the "knowledge" that the mounds help with temperature control is not true, but rather they facilitate air circulation. This may sound trivial, but the chapter is convincing in that it offers insights on new approaches to building design. Chapter 6 explores how understanding ants may help us develop more effective networks--as individuals ants are not very smart but as a collective group the accumulation of vast numbers of simple decisions does act in intelligent ways (this chapter may be difficult for people with minimal science background).Chapter 7 discusses the search of an artificial leaf, essentially exploring how studying plants' use of sunlight might inspire more efficient solar power for humans. Chapter 8 looks at cities as ecosystems.I found a couple of things to be fascinating. Chapter 4 considers flying and swimming creatures. I had not known that animals (including people) moving through water or air leave behind vortices (that is, disturbances in the flow) that can last surprisingly long times in water. hat means the animals can be tracked by following the vortices, whether seals after fish or the Navy after submarines. The chapter looks at flying snakes, whose glide is a good deal more complex than I was aware of. Chapter 3 describes how robots are still rather primitive and especially need improved movement, and looking at how animals move (legs. bones, tendons, all of it) seems to be providing very useful insights.

Science is not one of my strengths but I have always held a strong fascination for it. I enjoyed and appreciated reading "Adapt" because as someone for whom science is a great mystery, author Amina Khan's writing style, ease of explanation, and descriptions of practical uses make bio-mimicry accessible for someone like me. Even if science comes easy to you, I feel that the book will still capture your attention and give something more to add to your repertoire of science quips!

Incredibly interesting. Amina writes in a way that makes it the subject matter easy to understand and entertaining. Definitely worth checking out.