The evolution of ideas in biomimicry

The aim of this paper is to perform a review of Biomimicry as a science today in environmental, engineering, and manufacturing fields, as well as to educate readers on the history of Biomimicry as a whole and how it is studied. As more evidence surfaces about the effect of our presence on the Earth, the scientific community is faced with the challenge of solving these problems. After introducing these concepts, an in-depth review of two of the most studied topics in biomimicry is conducted: how the lotus remains clean in a dirty swamp and how the gecko can stick to any surface. These two topics are taken from the classical beliefs on how they work and leads them through into today's world, focusing on how the mechanisms behind them were discovered. Both sections end with a review of current applications of the technologies that have been developed by studying these living organisms. Everything is wrapped up with a discussion of why we must continue to study biomimicry and apply its principles to our engineering and production practices.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Gonzales, Phillip David

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• James H. Williams Jr.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69775

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/69775