Design and Nature II ― Comparing Design in Nature With Science and Engineering

In his introductory address to this conference held in June 2004, Collins (South Bank U., UK) comments on the parallels between biological systems and human-engineered designs in terms of thermodynamic complexity and entropy. This collection of 59 papers spans an eclectic range of fields, design scales, and topics including: architectural design, architecture for sustainability, acoustics, biology, biomimetics, design philosophy and methods, medicine, and space exploration. E.g., the last paper describes a new spacecraft thermal control device based on a flower's shape and behavior. Lacks a subject index. Brebbia is with the Wessex Institute of Technology, UK. The US office of WIT Press is Computational Mechanics in Billerica, MA. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)