Cats' Paws and Catapults
by Steven Vogel · first published 2000
100% recommend
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I was lucky that during my research time I got to know Dawkin's work. And the journey started there: 1. "Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People" by Steven Vogel. If you were fascinated by the wings of birds or little waves behind the plants in water read this. Fascinating book! 2. "The meme machine" by…
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗A beautiful analogy ... unfortunately just an analogy. One book I liked in theoretical biology was "Cats Paws and Catapults" by Steve Vogel (978-0393319903) about how biology and technology adopt different designs due to use of different materials. Simply put, both birds and planes have wings but one if a flexible membrane…
on “Do the same mechanisms that create complex life also create complex technology?” ↗Heh, I'm somewhat the opposite, as I went from a degree in biochemistry into bioinformatics (protein folds and structure) and have an amateur interest in maths. I often recommend the book 'Cats' Paws and Catapults' by Steven Vogel, which discusses the differences between human and biological engineering. There are very different constraints, as well as the more obvious difference between intelligently directed…
on “AlphaFold reveals the structure of the protein universe” ↗Cats paws and catapults - I saw this first recommended on a different HN thread. Great comparison of natural and man-made mechanical systems that changed my intuitions about why things in the world are built the way they are.…
on “Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?” ↗I recommend this book a lot, but 'Cats’ Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People' (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223609.Cats_Paws_and_Cat...) is a great look at how biology inspires human design. One idea that is important (IIRC from…
on “Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?” ↗