Root and branch

In the delightful Design in Nature, Claus Mattheck presents the “single
design rule” that natural selection uses to build the super-light but extra
strong structures abundant in nature: roots, branches, thorns, skeletons and
claws. By applying these insights to technology we can also help to optimise
objects we create. Crammed with technical drawings, stress patterns and
equations, the book is a visual feast for engineers and industrial designers,
while the photographs and exuberant prose make it accessible to all. Published
by Springer-Verlag, £30/$44.95, ISBN 3540629378