A look at the interrelationship between biology and human design documents the development of a new, interdisciplinary scientific field Willis is an idiosyncratic and interesting writer reminiscent of Diane Ackerman; she follows her own curiosities about the natural world, taking readers along on a delightful trip. As with her The Hominid Gang (LJ 9/1/89), there is much gentle science in this account of how successful engineering and research so often mirror the natural world, but it is presented in a highly nonsystematic and occasionally highly oblique way. Willis discusses architecture, aerospace design, fossils, motion pictures-a cornucopia of themes gathered in a thought-provoking container and knitted together with warm and friendly prose. A fascinating and uncategorizable book that will delight readers who like being aware of the natural world and its human-made permutations. Mark L. Shelton, Worcester, Mass. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. An associational exploration of how biological forms inspire human architecture, this work ambles among the geometric connections between pterodactyls and birds and planes, trees and buildings, and beehives and their mathematical expressions. Willis navigates through dozens of such connections with ease, as she cut her teeth as a science journalist and isn't bashful about imparting an endearing sense of wonder. Her hero in the field is D'Arcy Thompson, a pioneer acknowledged by biology experts such as Peter Medawar and Stephen Jay Gould. Thompson, an amateur scientist, who wrote the influential book On Growth and Form in 1917, which is still in print, apparently animates Willis as well; she repeatedly cites the Scottsman's strong views on the purposes and functions of shapes, be they shells, fishes, or leaves. Buckminster Fuller, too, felt the weight of Thompson's opinions even as he designed a revolutionary method of weight distribution--the geodesic dome--which Willis devotes an entire chapter to. With her abundant enthusiasm, this author is bound to captivate those interested in biology on the visible, macro scale, and under Willis' prompting, they will easily grasp patterns that have previously escaped them. Gilbert Taylor "A good introduction to a new science in the making." Kirkus Reviews "Charming and adroit. Dusty facts sparkle in their new juxtaposition." The Washington Times - "Willis navigates through dozens of connections with ease, as she cut her teeth as a science journalist and isn't bashful about imparting an endearing sense of wonder." Booklist - "A fascinating and uncategorizable book that will delight readers." Library Journal This book is worth every penny. In an era when we're lucky to glean one or two inspiring ideas from a book of nonfiction, Delta Willis has packed this one with dozens- possibility space, tensegrity, morphodynamics... And the details: did you know that a fly has a three-speed gear shift for its wings? Or that the branches of an oak tree are frequently longer than the tree's height? Nature's designs are not always ideal, but they have uncanny ways of dealing with the conditions of this planet, using a great economy of means. The author introduces us in a very personal way to the researchers, inventors, and engineers who've tried to understand and/or use nature's schemes, and continue to do so. At the center of the book is the patriarch of "growth and form," D'Arcy Thompson, whose legacy is perhaps still not fully realized. His predecessors (Leonardo da Vinci, Fibonacci...) and successors (Fuller, Seilacher...) are juxtaposed more on the basis of pertinence than conventional plodding chronology. The author shows a natural playfulness, weaving her own experiences into the explanations, and allowing her personages to speak for themselves. Dolf Seilacher's words occasionally shows signs of nature experimenting on the spot. In the spirit of her controlling metaphor, the sand dollar, Willis gives immediate delight like the flower design etched on a sand dollar's back, and deftly reveals the underlying intrigue such as the sand dollar's intricate food grooves, tube feet, and system of sand ballast under the thin etched dome. Faced with this abundant evidence of genius in nature's designs, I found myself asking what exactly this genius could be. As Stephen Jay Gould has said, these are "paths that a sensible God would never tread." But while physical laws describe a trend to disorder (entropy), life plays with designs and moves toward greater order, as if consciousness were not an exclusive property of the brain. This book is full of "possibility space" and it's a good read. Delta Willis searched for fossils alongside Richard Leakey for her first book, The Hominid Gang, Behind the Scenes in the Search for Human Origins, and organized Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould's first expedition in Africa.  When China first opened to Western tourism, she joined Lindblad Travel to escort groups into the Peopl