EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book Nature by Design

    Book Details:
  • Author : Eric Higgs
  • Publisher : MIT Press
  • Release : 2003-04-25
  • ISBN : 9780262582261
  • Pages : 368 pages

Download or read book Nature by Design written by Eric Higgs and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2003-04-25 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecological restoration is the process of repairing human damage to ecosystems. It involves reintroducing missing plants and animals, rebuilding soils, eliminating hazardous substances, ripping up roads, and returning natural processes such as fire and flooding to places that thrive on their regular occurrence. Thousands of restoration projects take place in North America every year. In Nature by Design, Eric Higgs argues that profound philosophical and cultural shifts accompany these projects. He explores the ethical and philosophical bases of restoration and the question of what constitutes good ecological restoration. Higgs explains how and why the restoration movement came about, where it fits into the array of approaches to human relationships with the land, and how it might be used to secure a sustainable future. Some environmental philosophers and activists worry that restoration will dilute preservation and conservation efforts and lead to an even deeper technological attitude toward nature. They ask whether even well-conceived restoration projects are in fact just expressions of human will. Higgs prefaces his responses to such concerns by distinguishing among several types of ecological restoration. He also describes a growing gulf between professionals and amateurs. Higgs finds much merit in criticism about technological restoration projects, which can cause more damage than they undo. These projects often ignore the fact that changing one thing in a complex system can change the whole system. For restoration projects to be successful, Higgs argues, people at the community level must be engaged. These focal restorations bring communities together, helping volunteers develop a dedication to place and encouraging democracy.

Book Design by Nature

    Book Details:
  • Author : Erica Tanov
  • Publisher : Ten Speed Press
  • Release : 2018-04-03
  • ISBN : 0399579087
  • Pages : 234 pages

Download or read book Design by Nature written by Erica Tanov and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first design book that translates elements of nature--including flora, water, and wood--into elements of decor for beautiful, lived-in, bohemian interiors, from acclaimed designer and tastemaker Erica Tanov. Inspired by nature's colors, textures, and patterns, design icon Erica Tanov uses her passion for textiles to create beautiful, timeless interiors that connect us to the natural world. Now, in her first book, Design by Nature, Tanov teaches you how to train your eye to the beauty of the natural world, and then bring the outdoors in—incorporating patterns and motifs from nature, as well as actual organic elements, into simple ideas for everyday decorating and design. Design by Nature contains new and imaginative decorating ideas for an organic and bohemian style that mixes and layers rugs, pillows, throws, and drapery, and incorporates unique patterns and fabrics such as shibori, ikat, and jamdani, all stunningly photographed by renowned photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo. With topics ranging from embracing imperfection in your home, to seeking out flea markets, to displaying your collections, Design by Nature takes an enduring and intuitive approach to design that transcends fleeting trends and encourages you to find your own personal style, source of creativity, and connection to the natural world. You don't need to travel to distant locales to find beauty; it's all around us, from the crackle of fallen leaves to the jagged bark of a tree.

Book Structure in Nature Is a Strategy for Design

Download or read book Structure in Nature Is a Strategy for Design written by Peter Pearce and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The structural designs that occur in nature - in molecules, in crystals, in living cells - appear in this fully illustrated book as a source of inspiration and study of design of man-made structures" -- BOOK JACKET.

Book Nature s Design

    Book Details:
  • Author : Richard Thompson
  • Publisher : Struik Publishers
  • Release : 2009
  • ISBN : 9781770077249
  • Pages : 0 pages

Download or read book Nature s Design written by Richard Thompson and published by Struik Publishers. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fascinating text about the natural sciences that both answers questions, and raises new ones; with line drawings by the author

Book William Bartram  the Search for Nature s Design

Download or read book William Bartram the Search for Nature s Design written by William Bartram and published by Wormsloe Foundation Nature Boo. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work presents new material in the form of art, letters, and unpublished manuscripts. These documents expand our knowledge of Bartram as an explorer, naturalist, artist, writer, and citizen of the early Republic.

Book Design by Nature

    Book Details:
  • Author : Maggie Macnab
  • Publisher : New Riders
  • Release : 2011-09-22
  • ISBN : 0132622416
  • Pages : 683 pages

Download or read book Design by Nature written by Maggie Macnab and published by New Riders. This book was released on 2011-09-22 with total page 683 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Design by Nature: Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design, author Maggie Macnab takes you on an intimate and eclectic journey examining the unending versatility of nature, showing how to uncover nature’s ingenuity and use it to create beautiful and compelling designed communications. Written for designers and creative thinkers of all types, this book will guide you through a series of unexpected a-ha! moments that describe relationships among nature, art, science, technology, and design. Through explanation and example, you will learn about natural processes, consisting of everyday patterns and shapes that are often taken for granted, but that can be used effectively in visual messaging. Explore the principles all human beings intuitively use to understand the world and learn to incorporate nature’s patterns and shapes into your work for more meaningful design. By recognizing and appreciating a broad range of relationships, you can create more aesthetic and effective design, building communications that encompass the universal experience of being part of nature, and that are relevant to a worldwide audience. Teaches how to understand and integrate the essential processes of nature’s patterns and shapes in design Includes key concepts, learning objectives, definitions, and exercises to help you put what you learn into practice Features a foreword by Debbie Millman and reviews and discussions of practice and process by some of the world’s leading designers, including Milton Glaser, Stefan Sagmeister, and Ellen Lupton Includes profiles of street artist Banksy, creative director and author Kenya Hara, and typographical designer Erik Spiekermann

Book Design with Nature Now

    Book Details:
  • Author : Frederick R. Steiner
  • Publisher :
  • Release : 2019-10-15
  • ISBN : 9781558443938
  • Pages : 368 pages

Download or read book Design with Nature Now written by Frederick R. Steiner and published by . This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1969, Ian McHarg's seminal book, Design with Nature, set forth a new vision for regional planning using natural systems. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, a team of landscape architects and planners from PennDesign have showcased some of the most advanced ecological design projects in the world today. Written in clear language and featuring vivid color images, Design with Nature Now demonstrates McHarg's enduring influence on contemporary practitioners as they contend with climate change and other 21st-century challenges.

Book Design in Nature

    Book Details:
  • Author : Adrian Bejan
  • Publisher : Anchor
  • Release : 2013-01-08
  • ISBN : 0307744345
  • Pages : 306 pages

Download or read book Design in Nature written by Adrian Bejan and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this groundbreaking book, Adrian Bejan takes the recurring patterns in nature—trees, tributaries, air passages, neural networks, and lightning bolts—and reveals how a single principle of physics, the constructal law, accounts for the evolution of these and many other designs in our world. Everything—from biological life to inanimate systems—generates shape and structure and evolves in a sequence of ever-improving designs in order to facilitate flow. River basins, cardiovascular systems, and bolts of lightning are very efficient flow systems to move a current—of water, blood, or electricity. Likewise, the more complex architecture of animals evolve to cover greater distance per unit of useful energy, or increase their flow across the land. Such designs also appear in human organizations, like the hierarchical “flowcharts” or reporting structures in corporations and political bodies. All are governed by the same principle, known as the constructal law, and configure and reconfigure themselves over time to flow more efficiently. Written in an easy style that achieves clarity without sacrificing complexity, Design in Nature is a paradigm-shifting book that will fundamentally transform our understanding of the world around us.

Book Nature s Design

    Book Details:
  • Author : Richard Thompson
  • Publisher : Penguin Random House South Africa
  • Release : 2011-08-26
  • ISBN : 177007967X
  • Pages : 289 pages

Download or read book Nature s Design written by Richard Thompson and published by Penguin Random House South Africa. This book was released on 2011-08-26 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What's so special about grass? Why do cows have four stomachs? When will lions give their last roar? How do animals plan menus - and co-ordinate hunts? Why do bees dance? How many elephants are too many? This compelling book explores and finds answers to some of Nature's most intriguing mysteries. Drawing on the African landscape, the author looks at the biology and physiology of animals and plants, and their adaptations in a world of unpredictable change. Wide-ranging chapters cover, among other topics, mass extinctions, the world's grasslands, predators and prey, FIV in lions, chemical communication and that most contentious of issues - animal consciousness. Playful line drawings illustrate the text, to make a bumper read for anyone with an interest in the workings of the natural world.

Book Nature by Design

    Book Details:
  • Author : Stephen R. Kellert
  • Publisher : Yale University Press
  • Release : 2018-01-01
  • ISBN : 0300214537
  • Pages : 225 pages

Download or read book Nature by Design written by Stephen R. Kellert and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A gorgeously illustrated, accessible book that provides a holistic summary of the key elements for good biophilic design

Book The Nature of Design

Download or read book The Nature of Design written by M. Scott Lockard and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Design is a widely-misunderstood discipline. This misunderstanding is not just simple ignorance and indifference in the layman. It is the design profession itself that accepts and promotes a vague and ultimately damaging definition of design. This lack of clarity is nurtured to thwart the scrutiny that would reveal designers' incompetence--as well as to advance more insidious agendas. While there is no lack of criticism, it too misses the point. Critics and designers are content to argue about superficial distinctions but not to understand the true criteria for evaluation, nor the process that would accomplish it. These willful misunderstandings are highly detrimental both to the client and to the development of capable designers.

Book By Nature s Design

Download or read book By Nature s Design written by Pat Murphy and published by . This book was released on 1993-09 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inspired collaboration between an award-winning photographer and The Exploratorium, San Francisco's renowned, hands-on museum, this book reveals--in stunning color photos of patterns in nature, and fascinating, always accessible scientific observations and explanations--the incredible beauty, symmetry, and diversity of nature's designs.

Book A Beautiful Question

    Book Details:
  • Author : Frank Wilczek
  • Publisher : Penguin
  • Release : 2016-07-12
  • ISBN : 0143109367
  • Pages : 482 pages

Download or read book A Beautiful Question written by Frank Wilczek and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-07-12 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does the universe embody beautiful ideas? Artists as well as scientists throughout human history have pondered this “beautiful question.” With Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek as your guide, embark on a voyage of related discoveries, from Plato and Pythagoras up to the present. Wilczek’s groundbreaking work in quantum physics was inspired by his intuition to look for a deeper order of beauty in nature. This is the deep logic of the universe—and it is no accident that it is also at the heart of what we find aesthetically pleasing and inspiring. Wilczek is hardly alone among great scientists in charting his course using beauty as his compass. As he reveals in A Beautiful Question, this has been the heart of scientific pursuit from Pythagoras and the ancient belief in the music of the spheres to Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, and into the deep waters of twentieth-century physics. Wilczek brings us right to the edge of knowledge today, where the core insights of even the craziest quantum ideas apply principles we all understand. The equations for atoms and light are almost the same ones that govern musical instruments and sound; the subatomic particles that are responsible for most of our mass are determined by simple geometric symmetries. Gorgeously illustrated, A Beautiful Question is a mind-shifting book that braids the age-old quest for beauty and the age-old quest for truth into a thrilling synthesis. It is a dazzling and important work from one of our best thinkers, whose humor and infectious sense of wonder animate every page. Yes: The world is a work of art, and its deepest truths are ones we already feel, as if they were somehow written in our souls.

Book Design in Nature

Download or read book Design in Nature written by Claus Mattheck and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The chicken bone you nibbled yesterday and threw away was a high-tech product! Not only that: it was a superlative light-weight design, functionally adapted to its mechanical requirements. No engineer in the world has, as yet, been able to copy this structural member, which is excellently optimized in its external shape and its internal architecture as regards minimum weight and maximum strength. The tree stem on which you recently carved your initials has also, by life-long care for its body, steadily improved its internal and external structure and adapted optimally to new loads. In the course of its biomechanical self-optimization it will heal up the notch you cut as speedily as possible, in order to repair even the smallest weak point, which might otherwise cost it its life in the next storm. This book is dedicated to the understanding of this biomechanical optimization of shape. It is the synthesis of many years of extensive research using the latest computer methods at the Karlsruhe Research Centre to help understand the mechanism of biological self-optimization (adaptive growth) and to simulate it by computer. The method newly developed for this purpose was called CAO (Computer-Aided Optimization). With this method, it is possible to predict the growth of trees, bones and other biological structures from the tiger's claw to the sea urchin's skeleton.

Book Design Like Nature

Download or read book Design Like Nature written by Megan Clendenan and published by Orca Book Publishers. This book was released on 2021-03-16 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ★“Fascinating...An appealing resource sure to spark an interest in biomimicry, from casual readers to budding scientists. Recommended for all libraries.”—School Library Journal, starred review Did you know that lamps can be powered by glowing bacteria instead of electricity? That gloves designed like gecko feet let people climb straight up glass walls? Or that kids are finding ways to make compostable plastic out of banana peels? Biomimicry, the scientific term for when we learn from and copy nature, is a revolutionary way to look to nature for answers to environmental problems such as climate change. In Design Like Nature young readers discover innovations and inventions inspired by the environment. Nature runs the entire planet with no waste and no pollution. Can humans learn to do this too? It's time to step outside and start designing like nature.

Book Applying Nature s Design

    Book Details:
  • Author : Anthony Bennett Anderson
  • Publisher : Columbia University Press
  • Release : 2006
  • ISBN : 9780231134101
  • Pages : 246 pages

Download or read book Applying Nature s Design written by Anthony Bennett Anderson and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human actions are fragmenting habitats throughout the world. To address this problem, conservationists have set up biological corridors, areas of land set aside to facilitate the movement of species and ecological processes. This book offers an overview of the design and effectiveness of these corridors.

Book Design With Nature

    Book Details:
  • Author : Ian L. McHarg
  • Publisher : Turtleback
  • Release : 1995-02-01
  • ISBN : 9780613923330
  • Pages : 197 pages

Download or read book Design With Nature written by Ian L. McHarg and published by Turtleback. This book was released on 1995-02-01 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NULL