Project Gutenberg
2016-10-17
Public domain in the USA.
340
Wood, J. G. (John George)
1827
1889
Wood, John George
Forrest, George
Wood, John G.
Nature's Teachings: Human Invention Anticipated by Nature
Produced by Chris Curnow, Chuck Greif and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)
"Nature's Teachings: Human Invention Anticipated by Nature" by J. G. Wood is a scientific publication written in the late 19th century. The work explores the profound connections between natural phenomena and human inventions, arguing that many technological advancements have their origins in nature's designs. Wood's perspective emphasizes that through observation and study of nature's prototypes, humans can create more effective tools, structures, and systems. The opening of this book introduces its central thesis: that nearly every human invention has a counterpart in the natural world. Wood begins by contrasting poetry and science, using the example of the Paper Nautilus to illustrate how poetry has historically romanticized natural entities that are merely imaginative. He then shifts focus to the example of the Velella, a marine organism that functions like a sailboat, highlighting how nature provides not only inspiration but also physical analogs for human technology, such as boats and propulsion systems. Wood furthers this idea by connecting other biological forms, like the Water-snail and Gnat, to their invented counterparts, establishing a framework for the chapters that follow, which will explore various inventions inspired by natural phenomena. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Reading ease score: 65.5 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
en
Natural history
Inventions
Q
Text
Category: Science - Biology
Category: Engineering & Technology
1216538
2025-07-21T09:12:11.927579
text/html
1185834
2024-10-23T01:16:02
text/html
25672612
2025-07-21T09:13:21.125788
application/epub+zip
25594555
2025-07-21T09:12:34.722966
application/epub+zip
528747
2025-07-21T09:12:15.109602
application/epub+zip
33807412
2025-07-21T09:13:43.335679
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
33580573
2025-07-21T09:12:55.274885
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
731094
2022-09-24T07:45:45.030287
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
1045872
2025-07-21T09:12:07.463604
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
1025880
2024-10-23T01:16:02
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
17514
2025-07-21T09:13:43.813630
application/rdf+xml
16523
2025-07-21T09:12:15.309586
image/jpeg
2607
2025-07-21T09:12:15.221592
image/jpeg
26395581
2025-07-21T09:12:13.205590
application/octet-stream
application/zip
Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at
https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog
en.wikipedia