As I recall, it was Dr. Helen Scales‘ book Spirals in Time that first presented me with a refined appreciation of the magnificence that is the architecture of mollusc shells. Not only the arresting and often intriguing beauty of those that are known to exist, but the breath-taking three-dimensional matrix she described of those that might potentially exist.
As those who study natural history likely well know, it isn’t just molluscs that create such remarkable habitations for themselves. A wide range of creatures engage in natural engineering projects, be they independent structures in which to live in or as part of their own bodies. And it is this vast range of structures that Kimberly Ridley presents in her forthcoming book Wild Design; Nature’s Architects.
Beginning even more foundationally with the natural formations of the planet’s rocks and minerals, then building from the microscopic world of diatoms and radiolarians, followed by molluscs, arthropods, birds, and ending with feats of mammalian engineering, Ms. Ridley guides her readers, with the help of a collection of superb classic natural history illustrations, through the kaleidoscope of nature’s shapes, colors and functions. This is indeed a work well suited to inspiration as well as relaxation.
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