WILD INVENTIONS

Select examples of technology “bioinspired” by observations of adaptations or behavior in the natural world.

The veteran science writer not only neglects to mention such well-established examples as the invention of Velcro and the essential historical influence of bird wing structure on airplane wing design, but most of the links she does point to are indirect at best. For instance, she writes about honeybee strategies for cooling hives but then offers an entirely speculative connection to human technology. Nor does she demonstrate precisely how human-made camouflage patterns were based on those of animals, and she makes only a vague connection between diving beetles and water scorpions and the way diving bells carry air underwater (“No one knows for sure what inspired some inventions that helped divers breathe”). The line she draws between dolphin echolocation and the invention of sonar is a tenuous one (“Was Boyle’s invention inspired by dolphins echolocating? He didn’t leave a written record identifying the inspiration for his invention”); the connection grows even more strained when she arbitrarily extends it to the light-based “lidar” that self-driving cars use. Unlike the narrative’s fuzzy choices and logic, the many photos and diagrams are sharp and well worth poring over, with plenty of images that are both enjoyable and informative. Human figures are generally small and distant.

Attractive visuals, but sketchy text.