An Inventor in the Garden of Eden

by Eric Laithwaite

Overview

We oftentimes think that human inventions are an improvement on nature. In fact, many of humankind's most clever inventions have been anticipated by nature. In this book, Professor Laithwaite takes a new look at the natural world from an engineer's point of view. He questions conventional science in such fundamental topics as logic, habit, memory, simplicity, experience, absolute size, wisdom, and civilization. On the way to arriving at his conclusions, Dr. Laithwaite crosses the boundaries of engineering, biology, religion, economics, and cosmology. Filled with truly fascinating anecdotes and examples, this thought-provoking book will have special appeal to the general reader with an inquiring mind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521441063
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/01/1994
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.18(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

1. Gardens of Eden; 2. The human thinker; 3. Human laws and the rules of God; 4. Size is everything; 5. Our assessment of ourselves; 6. Topology - the master discipline; 7. Growth and decay; 8. Nature - master technologist; 9. Into the complex.

Editorial Reviews

"...a synthesis of over forty years of experience given to us by a man who has been an inventor and an engineer since the end of the Second World War... Laithwaite writes with facility and enthusiasm, intertwining his insights from several disciplines to make his case...written with wit and beauty and originality..." Tom Carpenter, Wilson Library Bulletin

"His storytelling skills, honed during many years of popular lecturing from which this book is distilled, are now in very good order....The result is a very personal book, unclassifiable, unscholarly, but unfailingly interesting." Jon Turney, Times Higher Education Supplement

From the Publisher