Clapper~
He believed that all of the answers to are problems
lies in nature.
that's pretty much how i see things.
(i'm a big Leonardo fan too, btw.)
doing as much macro photography as i do,
i see the patterns and structures in many things...
various mollusc shells, sphagnum moss spires, etc...
and i'm also very interested in water flow
and have shot a lot of DV footage of interesting
waves, eddies, and so on...
lots of those patterns are repeatedly found in nature,
and have been used by architects and engineers
through the centuries.
a couple of years ago, i was reading quite a bit
on anything relating to the relationship between
science and nature. unfortunately, i didn't
keep a book list -- very bad move, as i have a very
bad memory for titles and names of authors.
(there are quite a few books that cover this topic
quite well. if i happen to think of the titles,
i'll post them).
however, a couple of days ago, i came across
an old email which i sent to a friend who
likes to design things and is very into nature.
you might find this excerpt kind of fun:
just been reading a book of essays
by David Quammen
and there is a chapter on kayaking that
discusses the vortex...
fluid dynamics,... etc...
There's this one part about Leonardo...
and how he was fascinated by water...
fluid dynamics, and watched whirlpools, waves, currents,
and experimented with dropping things like seeds
onto the surface of water to watch fluid dynamics...
And he drew many diagrams of his observations.
Also, he was the first person... at least first known person
to realize that our heart valves are closed by
vortex formations in the blood that pumps through them....
Neat, huh?
i checked, and am quite sure i wrote the above about
one of Quammen's essays in "Wild Thoughts from Wild Places"
if you haven't read it, you might enjoy it.
~croc |
