ANIMALS are machines: walking, running, crawling, flying, sensing machines. So say retired aerospace engineer Mark Denny and his co-author, independent consultant Alan McFadzean, who in this book examine these machines with the critical eyes of engineers, investigating the technical workings of animal adaptations from snail slime to sonar.
Both physiology primer and engineering textbook, Engineering Animals covers the basics of how physics constrains animal structure and function, all the while marvelling at nature’s exquisite and often surprising solutions.
Optimisation is a key theme. All animals are faced with environmental challenges – find food, find a mate, stay alive – to…
