Kristy Hamilton

Nature's Wild Ideas: How the Natural World is Inspiring Scientific Innovation Kristy Hamilton

A lively and endlessly fascinating deep-dive into the many groundbreaking human inventions that are inspired by nature.

When astronomers wanted a telescope that could focus X-rays from celestial bodies, they looked to the lobster. When doctors wanted a medication that could stabilize diabetic patients, they found their cure in a lizard. When scientists wanted a way to stop birds from crashing into buildings, they looked to spider's silk. This is biomimicry in action: the mimicking of nature's designs (some of which evolved long before we walked the Earth) to tackle human challenges.

In Nature's Wild Ideas, Kristy Hamilton goes behind the scenes of some of our most unexpected innovations. She introduces the animals and plants that inspired everything from spaceflight and medications to the tech used to manage our electrical grids, and the men and women who followed that first spark of "I wonder" all the way to its conclusion, sometimes against all odds. While the joy of scientific discovery is front and centre, Nature's Wild Ideas is also a love letter to nature--complete with a deep message of conservation: If we are to continue learning from the creatures around us, we must protect their ecosystems.