Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People by Steven Vogel
Human designers love right angles, but nature prefers to be round and curved; we like to be dry, whereas nature tends to be wet; we use wheels in diverse ways, but nature's only true wheels occur in bacteria. This text introduces us to the world of biomechanics and explains how physical law and historical accident became our world's most supreme architects.