3.A26
Freshman Seminar: The Nature of Engineering
Fall 2005
Topics
- Introduction, Previous Projects, Strange Stuff at Museum of Science
- Museum of Science Visit
- CBC Video on Biomimicking
- Brainstorming Sessions to Identify Projects
- Working on Projects
- Projects due
- Visit to Scanning Electron Microscope
Readings
- Benyus, J. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature . New York, NY: HarperTrade, 2002. ISBN: 9780060533229.
- Easterling, K. E., R. Harrysson, L. J. Gibson, and M. F. Ashby, F. R. S. “On the Mechanics of Balsa and Other Woods.” Proceedings of the Royal Society London A383 (1982): 31-41.
- Gibson, L. J., M. F. Ashby, and K. E. Easterling. “Structure and Mechanics of the Iris Leaf.” Journal of Materials Science 23 (1988): 3041-3048.
- Gibson, L. J., M. F. Ashby, G. N. Karam, U. Wegst, and H. R. Shercliff. “The Mechanical Properties of Natural Materials. II. Microstructures for Mechanical Efficiency.” Proceedings of the Royal Society London A450 (1995): 141-162.
- Gibson, L. J., K. E. Easterling, and M. F. Ashby, F. R. S. “The Structure and Mechanics of Cork.” Proceedings of the Royal Society London A377 (1981): 99-117.
- Niklas, Karl J. “How to build a Tree.” Natural History 2 (1996): 48-52.
- McMahon, Thomas A. “The Mechanical Design of Trees.” Scientific American 233 (1975): 93-102.
- Kahle, E., and J. Woodhouse. “The Influence of Cell Geometry on the Elasticity of Softwood.” Journal of Materials Science 29 (1994): 1250-1259.
- McIntyre, M. E., and J. Woodhouse. “On Measuring the Elastic and Damping Constants of Orthotropic Sheet Materials.” Acta Metall 36, no. 6 (1988): 1397-1416.
- Barlow, C. Y. “Materials Selection for Musical Instruments.” Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics 19, part 5 (1997).
- Burkle, Lloyd, and Henri D. Grissino-Mayer. “Stradivari, Violins, Tree Rings, and The Maunder Minimum: A Hypothesis.” Dendrochronologia 21, no. 1 (2003): 41-45.
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗Historical OpenCourseWare
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.