Calendar and Readings

Textbook

Vogel, Steven. Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People. W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. ISBN: 9780393319903.

Ses # Due Dates TOPIC AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
1   Introduction. Methods of Biomimetics.
2 Assignment 1 Due

Methods of Biomimetics. Discuss Chapters 1 and 2.

  • Chapter 1: Noncoincident Worlds
  • Chapter 2: Two Schools of Design
3 Assignment 3 Due

Discuss Chapters 3 and 4.

  • Chapter 3: The Matter of Magnitude
  • Chapter 4: Surfaces, Angles, and Corners
4 Assignment 3 Due

Discuss Chapters 5 and 6.

  • Chapter 5: The Stiff and the Soft
  • Chapter 6: Two Routes to Rigidity
5 Assignment 4 Due Examples
6 Assignment 5 Due

Discuss Chapters 7 and 8.

  • Chapter 7: Pulling versus Pushing
  • Chapter 8: Engines for the Mechanical Worlds
7   Genetic Algorithms (PDF)
8 Assignment 6 Due Genetic Algorithms and Politics
9 Assignment 7 Due

Discuss Chapters 9 and 10.

  • Chapter 9: Putting Engines to Work
  • Chapter 10: About Pumps, Jets, and Ships
10 Assignment 8 Due

Discuss Chapters 11 and 12.

  • Chapter 11: Making Widgets
  • Chapter 12: Copying, in Retrospect
11  

Discuss Chapters 13 and 14.

  • Chapter 13: Copying, Present and Prospective
  • Chapter 14: Contrasts, Convergences, and Consequences

Critique of the Textbook