Shape and Structure, from Engineering to Nature [Hardcover]

This 2000 book explores the similarities between shape and structure in engineered and natural systems.In this groundbreaking book, Adrian Bejan shows that shape and structure spring from the struggle for better performance in both engineering and nature. This idea is the basis of the new constructal theory, that is, the objective and constraints principle used in engineering is the same mechanism from which the geometry in natural flow systems emerges. From heat exchangers to river channels, many parallels are drawn between the engineered and the natural world. This provocative book will be a novel text for engineering design courses and will also appeal to a broad range of readers in engineering, the natural sciences, and economics.In this groundbreaking book, Adrian Bejan shows that shape and structure spring from the struggle for better performance in both engineering and nature. This idea is the basis of the new constructal theory, that is, the objective and constraints principle used in engineering is the same mechanism from which the geometry in natural flow systems emerges. From heat exchangers to river channels, many parallels are drawn between the engineered and the natural world. This provocative book will be a novel text for engineering design courses and will also appeal to a broad range of readers in engineering, the natural sciences, and economics.Seemingly universal geometric forms unite the flow systems of engineering and nature. In this groundbreaking book, Adrian Bejan considers the design and optimization of engineered systems and discovers a relationship to the generation of geometric form in natural systems. The idea that shape and structure spring from the struggle for better performance in both engineering and nature is the basis of his new constructal theory: the objective and constraints principle in engineering is the same mechanism underlying the geometry in natural flow systems. From heat exchangers to river channels, Bejan drl³"