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The Shark's Paintbrush: Biomimicry and How Nature is Inspiring Innovation
Why does the bumblebee have better aerodynamics than a 747? What structural design is shared by a tornado and a blood vessel?
Since the Industrial Revolution, manufacturers have built things by a process known as "heat, beat, and treat". They use enormous amounts of energy to heat raw material, shape it with heavy machinery, and maintain its design, strength, and durability with toxic chemicals. Now, in a world of depleted natural resources, entrepreneurs and scientists are turning to nature to inspire future products that are more energy- and cost-efficient. Biomimicry, the science of employing nature to advance sustainable technology, is arguably one of the hottest new business concepts. At the center of this growing movement has been award-winning inventor and biomimetic entrepreneur Jay Harman.
In The Shark's Paintbrush, Harman introduces us to pioneering engineers in a wide array of businesses who are uncovering and copying nature’s hidden marvels. He shows business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs how we can reconcile creating more powerful, lucrative technologies with maximizing sustainability. He injects a whole new vocabulary and way of thinking into the business sphere that speaks to both small start-ups and corporate giants.
Since the Industrial Revolution, manufacturers have built things by a process known as "heat, beat, and treat". They use enormous amounts of energy to heat raw material, shape it with heavy machinery, and maintain its design, strength, and durability with toxic chemicals. Now, in a world of depleted natural resources, entrepreneurs and scientists are turning to nature to inspire future products that are more energy- and cost-efficient. Biomimicry, the science of employing nature to advance sustainable technology, is arguably one of the hottest new business concepts. At the center of this growing movement has been award-winning inventor and biomimetic entrepreneur Jay Harman.
In The Shark's Paintbrush, Harman introduces us to pioneering engineers in a wide array of businesses who are uncovering and copying nature’s hidden marvels. He shows business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs how we can reconcile creating more powerful, lucrative technologies with maximizing sustainability. He injects a whole new vocabulary and way of thinking into the business sphere that speaks to both small start-ups and corporate giants.
326 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
66 people are currently reading
637 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 19, 2014
I have incredibly mixed feelings about this book. I think biomimicry is an invaluable field and Jay Harman is very clearly a passionate, knowledgable, and genuine messenger for the importance and potential of biomimcry.
Unfortunately, I think this book has too many major flaws, which is why I can't rate it higher than "OK":
1) The errors drove me up the wall. Most of them were punctuation errors that could not be explained as writing style, although I saw others in the text as well. It may seem like a petty thing to get hung up on, but this book is not cheap. When someone shells out nearly $30 for something, they should be getting a finished product. All told, it would have taken an editor two days at most to do a final read-through of this book, and a competent editor would have caught those flaws as I did. To see that they sent a book to print with so many very noticeable errors is insulting to me as a consumer.
2) Jay Harman is clearly biased. His dislike of venture capitalists is crystal clear, and in the third act of the book it seemed like he took an opportunity to publicly call out companies who he felt had wronged him in his earlier years. Much of his narration regarding his own work or experiences comes across as smug or bragging; this is a man who enjoys saying "I told you so." His tone was not approachable to me, despite the fact that I really wanted to learn from him. I think he has excellent advice about the field that comes from experience and is clearly very knowledgable, but he needed to take a step back from this book and make it less of a memoir.
3) The fact that animal testing is NEVER MENTIONED seems like a huge oversight to me in a book about saving the environment by accessing "nature's treasure chest" and copying many movements and chemicals found in animals. It doesn't take a genius to realize that some of the research he mentions throughout the book involved animal testing on some level, but he completely skirts around this fact. To talk about biomimcry without honestly discussing how these animal advantages will be accessed by and transferred to humans is deceptive; it seems as if Harman purposefully avoids this issue to avoid a larger debate about the price of human efficiency - is an animal's pain or even life worth a billion dollar industry that could contribute so much to cleaning up the mess we've made of our planet? If a biomimetic product's development involved animal testing, that needs to be talked about openly and honestly. To hide it or pretend it doesn't happen casts doubt on the integrity of the entire field.
I believe in climate change, I believe we as a species are in trouble as a result of our treatment of the environment, and I believe biomimcry presents a solution to these problems. This book has a lot of valuable information in it, but ultimately I found it very difficult to read. I struggled to finish it and felt both excitement over some of the innovations I was learning about and very intense frustration over the author's personal biases and the avoidance of animal testing discussion altogether.
I hope this review can help someone who is on the fence decide if this is worth their time, because I still don't really know how to feel about this book.
Unfortunately, I think this book has too many major flaws, which is why I can't rate it higher than "OK":
1) The errors drove me up the wall. Most of them were punctuation errors that could not be explained as writing style, although I saw others in the text as well. It may seem like a petty thing to get hung up on, but this book is not cheap. When someone shells out nearly $30 for something, they should be getting a finished product. All told, it would have taken an editor two days at most to do a final read-through of this book, and a competent editor would have caught those flaws as I did. To see that they sent a book to print with so many very noticeable errors is insulting to me as a consumer.
2) Jay Harman is clearly biased. His dislike of venture capitalists is crystal clear, and in the third act of the book it seemed like he took an opportunity to publicly call out companies who he felt had wronged him in his earlier years. Much of his narration regarding his own work or experiences comes across as smug or bragging; this is a man who enjoys saying "I told you so." His tone was not approachable to me, despite the fact that I really wanted to learn from him. I think he has excellent advice about the field that comes from experience and is clearly very knowledgable, but he needed to take a step back from this book and make it less of a memoir.
3) The fact that animal testing is NEVER MENTIONED seems like a huge oversight to me in a book about saving the environment by accessing "nature's treasure chest" and copying many movements and chemicals found in animals. It doesn't take a genius to realize that some of the research he mentions throughout the book involved animal testing on some level, but he completely skirts around this fact. To talk about biomimcry without honestly discussing how these animal advantages will be accessed by and transferred to humans is deceptive; it seems as if Harman purposefully avoids this issue to avoid a larger debate about the price of human efficiency - is an animal's pain or even life worth a billion dollar industry that could contribute so much to cleaning up the mess we've made of our planet? If a biomimetic product's development involved animal testing, that needs to be talked about openly and honestly. To hide it or pretend it doesn't happen casts doubt on the integrity of the entire field.
I believe in climate change, I believe we as a species are in trouble as a result of our treatment of the environment, and I believe biomimcry presents a solution to these problems. This book has a lot of valuable information in it, but ultimately I found it very difficult to read. I struggled to finish it and felt both excitement over some of the innovations I was learning about and very intense frustration over the author's personal biases and the avoidance of animal testing discussion altogether.
I hope this review can help someone who is on the fence decide if this is worth their time, because I still don't really know how to feel about this book.
January 5, 2016
This book provided excellent examples of processes in nature that have been successfully replicated by humans. To name just a few, biomimicry has produced:
- painless needles modeled after mosquito bites
- paint that resists bacteria or barnacle growth on boats modeled after shark skin
- swim suits that reduce drag (so much so, new restrictions have been put in place for their use in competition) based on shark skin
- extremely efficient wind turbines and cooling fans based off whale body structure and movement
- adhesives based on gecko's ability to walk up walls
- more
There was a particular emphasis on how products based on biomimicry are not only more efficient and ultimately less expensive than non-biomimicry products, but are also healthier for our planet. This emphasis alone makes the books worth reading.
I tend to be interested in the science side of things far more than the business end. I enjoyed stories about the various problems and successes faced by people when trying to obtain funding, trying to help the public understand the advantages of biomimicry, and the like. However, this book was too heavy on the business side for my taste; though I could see it being a valuable resource to those trying to get into the biomimicry business. In that case, this is an excellent how-to book.
The author delivers the science through his biography as a developer of biomimicry. He includes tales of wild and exciting encounters with various animals as well as his adventures in business. His animal encounter stories were all entertaining and added to the book. For my taste, the business part of the biography, which was quite a huge chunk of the book, could have been abbreviated a bit.
Overall, it's worth reading if you are interested in biomimicry, especially if you are looking for an audio format. I downloaded this free from hoopla. I would have preferred to have read Benyus' Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature but was not sure I would have time to sit and read the whole thing. Listen to Shark's Paintbrush on the go worked better for me.
For a comprehensive but brief Ted talk by Benyus, click the link below:
https://www.ted.com/talks/janine_beny...
The following is the link to the Biomimicry Institute
http://biomimicry.org/
- painless needles modeled after mosquito bites
- paint that resists bacteria or barnacle growth on boats modeled after shark skin
- swim suits that reduce drag (so much so, new restrictions have been put in place for their use in competition) based on shark skin
- extremely efficient wind turbines and cooling fans based off whale body structure and movement
- adhesives based on gecko's ability to walk up walls
- more
There was a particular emphasis on how products based on biomimicry are not only more efficient and ultimately less expensive than non-biomimicry products, but are also healthier for our planet. This emphasis alone makes the books worth reading.
I tend to be interested in the science side of things far more than the business end. I enjoyed stories about the various problems and successes faced by people when trying to obtain funding, trying to help the public understand the advantages of biomimicry, and the like. However, this book was too heavy on the business side for my taste; though I could see it being a valuable resource to those trying to get into the biomimicry business. In that case, this is an excellent how-to book.
The author delivers the science through his biography as a developer of biomimicry. He includes tales of wild and exciting encounters with various animals as well as his adventures in business. His animal encounter stories were all entertaining and added to the book. For my taste, the business part of the biography, which was quite a huge chunk of the book, could have been abbreviated a bit.
Overall, it's worth reading if you are interested in biomimicry, especially if you are looking for an audio format. I downloaded this free from hoopla. I would have preferred to have read Benyus' Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature but was not sure I would have time to sit and read the whole thing. Listen to Shark's Paintbrush on the go worked better for me.
For a comprehensive but brief Ted talk by Benyus, click the link below:
https://www.ted.com/talks/janine_beny...
The following is the link to the Biomimicry Institute
http://biomimicry.org/
September 22, 2013
This is the second book on nature and its relevance to the business world that I've read in the past few months and although this one had some more interesting info than the other (Smart Swarm) I still find these books to fall flat.
There is a lot of interesting trivia but you must wade through this weird mix of the author's personal anecdotes and his own company's innovations, ideas and experiences to get to them.
I'm not sure there really is an overall direction to this book - it seems to have started as a list of ideas for products that can be made by imitating nature. The ideas aren't bad - some are downright interesting (especially, to me, the medical implications.) The formatting, however is just bad and the personal stories don't flow into the topic at hand the way they should.
The discussion/interviews that deal with Harman's and other companies' struggles to bring products to the marketplace may be interesting to others in industry but I just couldn't find any decent lessons there: We tried and we tried and we tried and we failed - but we won't give up because we know we're right. Not the most encouraging mantra.
Maybe I'm just very far removed from it at this point, but I can't picture the executive who would find this to be full of new ideas, inspirational messages or be charmed by Harman's "wild" stories.
There is a lot of interesting trivia but you must wade through this weird mix of the author's personal anecdotes and his own company's innovations, ideas and experiences to get to them.
I'm not sure there really is an overall direction to this book - it seems to have started as a list of ideas for products that can be made by imitating nature. The ideas aren't bad - some are downright interesting (especially, to me, the medical implications.) The formatting, however is just bad and the personal stories don't flow into the topic at hand the way they should.
The discussion/interviews that deal with Harman's and other companies' struggles to bring products to the marketplace may be interesting to others in industry but I just couldn't find any decent lessons there: We tried and we tried and we tried and we failed - but we won't give up because we know we're right. Not the most encouraging mantra.
Maybe I'm just very far removed from it at this point, but I can't picture the executive who would find this to be full of new ideas, inspirational messages or be charmed by Harman's "wild" stories.
May 15, 2021
This book was disappointing. Designing products based on biological solutions to engineering problems is a good idea, but the book didn't give a program for a systematic way to go about doing that. It was just catalog of different things that various people have tried. And I didn't like the breathless way that the author put biomimetic products on a pedestal. Just because something is inspired by nature doesn't necessarily make it green or safe or efficient. There may be a greater probability of all of those things than with a product that is based on a more traditional engineering hardware approach, but it's only a probability.
Then there is another side of the book, which is a lame how-to guide for launching a business in this area. Most of the advice here applies to any business. It is not unique to biomimetics. It is just generic advice that anyone who has spent five minutes in this world already knows.
Then there is another side of the book, which is a lame how-to guide for launching a business in this area. Most of the advice here applies to any business. It is not unique to biomimetics. It is just generic advice that anyone who has spent five minutes in this world already knows.
February 16, 2022
3.7 I was basically giddy with excitement the entire time I read this book. I'm just so enamored with the premise: study nature to see how humans can find answers to our design problems that are more efficient, less disruptive, inexpensive, not harmful to the environment. Every example that he gave thrilled me. I loved reading about his own inventions. I loved reading about every invention he decided to include. I loved reading about every area where he suggested "further study will likely bear fruit."Personally, I wasn't so motivated by his repetitious "If you go into business like this, there's huge market opportunity" but hey, I'm not an entrepreneur scientist. I would give this to any person interested in scientific research and development, though. I love this framework of looking at scientific research. I just kept thinking YES YES YES. Yes study termite nests to understand how they are able to keep their huge structures cool in the summer without using electricity. Yes study self cleaning flowers and geckos and make the surfaces of our inventions the same on a microscopic level to take advantage of the evolutionary strategies that evolved over millions of years to be so efficient and so smoothly non-disruptive to the environment. Yes study whirlpools and dolphins to understand how they move without drag. Yes study how nature doesn't go in straight lines and edges so that it works better with the environment. Such a wonderful framework. So amazing to have science and business working together in a way that preserves and improves our world. This book is from 2013 and I really want to know if it's had an effect. The more people who think this way, the better for Earth, for humanity, for business, for nature.
I pretty much loved every example he brought down. I agree with the negative reviews that his stories often seemed to not really connect to his points (and after a while I just skimmed to the end of the story, since they weren't even relevant to the science. I get the feeling he's a raconteur in real life and his editor stopped arguing with him and just let the stories in). And maybe the book doesn't know if it's giving advice or teaching science of being a memoir. And maybe it's a little preachy. But the science! (Some reviews said it was pseudoscience--it didn't strike me that way. The mold stuff I've read extensively in other books. He himself is an engineer who has invented propellers using this method of biomimicry so it's worked.) Maybe some of the avenues he suggests are not doable yet but the theory seems sound to me, and even if not, the general principle of looking at nature's solutions is just plain logical and demonstrably true historically.
I can see why the style of writing irritated some people. But the topic was so fascinating to me that I loved it and was mostly excited and thrilled as I read it. It's a kind of reframing of the way I see the world that I won't be able to unsee. And I'll look at all technology and research and development in this framework from now on.
The last 3rd was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I'm more interested in the science than in the business but it seems like important information if you're going to try to market your biomimicry idea.
All in all: a little long, a little boring at parts, overall THRILLING EXCITING WONDERFUL concept and I loved the examples
I pretty much loved every example he brought down. I agree with the negative reviews that his stories often seemed to not really connect to his points (and after a while I just skimmed to the end of the story, since they weren't even relevant to the science. I get the feeling he's a raconteur in real life and his editor stopped arguing with him and just let the stories in). And maybe the book doesn't know if it's giving advice or teaching science of being a memoir. And maybe it's a little preachy. But the science! (Some reviews said it was pseudoscience--it didn't strike me that way. The mold stuff I've read extensively in other books. He himself is an engineer who has invented propellers using this method of biomimicry so it's worked.) Maybe some of the avenues he suggests are not doable yet but the theory seems sound to me, and even if not, the general principle of looking at nature's solutions is just plain logical and demonstrably true historically.
I can see why the style of writing irritated some people. But the topic was so fascinating to me that I loved it and was mostly excited and thrilled as I read it. It's a kind of reframing of the way I see the world that I won't be able to unsee. And I'll look at all technology and research and development in this framework from now on.
The last 3rd was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I'm more interested in the science than in the business but it seems like important information if you're going to try to market your biomimicry idea.
All in all: a little long, a little boring at parts, overall THRILLING EXCITING WONDERFUL concept and I loved the examples
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January 31, 2025This book is written for scientists who want to be entrepreneurs.
I'm a scientist who wanted to read about cool animal facts, so I nearly put this book down when I realized it was a business book. But I'm glad I didn't.
I now feel like I have a significant understanding of the field of biomimickry, its market strengths and weaknesses, and the diversity of applications and I kind of love that. To loosely reference a common argument I see at work about the importance of science research: I feel like I can now argue why the federal government can and should fund research into the mating habits of wombats or whatever kooky thing that nature is doing.
Because nature is amazing!! Nature is the most efficient manufacturer. Many processes are extremely efficient and make use of any generated waste. Ecological niches largely don't over-exploit their environment. Nature is modelling "harmony with nature" for us, and it actually makes good business sense to start taking some notes.
My only real gripe with the book were some of the author's in text jokes. There were a few that were off-colour, and something I would (unfrotuny) expect in a business book.
Nevertheless, it's exciting to now have a business advice book that I can sincerely recommend to people. 3.75 stars
I'm a scientist who wanted to read about cool animal facts, so I nearly put this book down when I realized it was a business book. But I'm glad I didn't.
I now feel like I have a significant understanding of the field of biomimickry, its market strengths and weaknesses, and the diversity of applications and I kind of love that. To loosely reference a common argument I see at work about the importance of science research: I feel like I can now argue why the federal government can and should fund research into the mating habits of wombats or whatever kooky thing that nature is doing.
Because nature is amazing!! Nature is the most efficient manufacturer. Many processes are extremely efficient and make use of any generated waste. Ecological niches largely don't over-exploit their environment. Nature is modelling "harmony with nature" for us, and it actually makes good business sense to start taking some notes.
My only real gripe with the book were some of the author's in text jokes. There were a few that were off-colour, and something I would (unfrotuny) expect in a business book.
Nevertheless, it's exciting to now have a business advice book that I can sincerely recommend to people. 3.75 stars
August 8, 2021
A really good read, one that I did in honor of shark week, Although the book is more about biomimicry than it is about sharks. I feel that my perspective in general has changed substantially because of this book. Although the purpose of the book is more focused on developing new technologies based on biomimetic principles, I think a lot of practices from this can be implemented in our daily lives. More about how to optimize the resources that we have in addition to optimizing outputs and efficiencies. Overall a great book
January 11, 2022
Book is a little outdated but still very interesting. Definitely learned quite a lot of new things about the natural world and quite a bit about the world of business and entrepreneurship.
December 18, 2015
In a world crying out for better industrial methods and cleaner energy, "The Shark's Paintbrush" rushes in swiftly with the deft movement of a shark's tail and the creative potential of an artist's loving brush. The creator has set forth in his creation wondrous blueprint designs for Mankind to take heed and learn from the Master Creator himself. The wondrous ingenuity of the great Artist Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is all around us even in the most unlikeliest of places. To the untrained eye and nose, the sweat of a Hippo seems to reek of no potential for humanity's use, however, hidden in this amphibious juggernaut's sweat is the key to greater protection from the sun as well as the ultimate design for our suntan lotions.
This book was a great privilege to read. Jay Harman is not just an author and researcher, but also someone who has had the gall to create his own company based on the innovation he perceived early on in life from being so intimate with nature. A great observer of the outdoors, he noticed in the creation various blueprints of which he was able to extract concepts for the creation of his company PAX Water Technologies.
Throughout the book Jay Harman weaves in and out of personal story narrative and supremely interesting facts about the different ways that nature has been and is inspiring innovation in various industries. The book is worth it's weight in gold just for all of the different examples in which the wonderful creation of the great Artist Allah (Glorified and Exalted above All Things) shines forth. Add to this great reservoir of knowledge, the personal experience of a man who has been in the trenches of modern business, trying to push forth his ideas in order to make the world a better, more sustainable, and agreeable place to live for all of the world's inhabitants (humans, animals, plants, and all other organisms included), and we get a great book.
This book is a must own for me as I have always been very interested in how humanity can live more harmoniously with all of the natural elements and organisms that compose our great world.
I have decided to give this book the 5 star "It Was Amazing" GoodReads rating. I have also added it to my "Uber Favorites I Own or Must Own List". Also, I just want to note here, that I had several intellectual brain spasmorgasms during it's reading of which I am still recovering from.
This book was a great privilege to read. Jay Harman is not just an author and researcher, but also someone who has had the gall to create his own company based on the innovation he perceived early on in life from being so intimate with nature. A great observer of the outdoors, he noticed in the creation various blueprints of which he was able to extract concepts for the creation of his company PAX Water Technologies.
Throughout the book Jay Harman weaves in and out of personal story narrative and supremely interesting facts about the different ways that nature has been and is inspiring innovation in various industries. The book is worth it's weight in gold just for all of the different examples in which the wonderful creation of the great Artist Allah (Glorified and Exalted above All Things) shines forth. Add to this great reservoir of knowledge, the personal experience of a man who has been in the trenches of modern business, trying to push forth his ideas in order to make the world a better, more sustainable, and agreeable place to live for all of the world's inhabitants (humans, animals, plants, and all other organisms included), and we get a great book.
This book is a must own for me as I have always been very interested in how humanity can live more harmoniously with all of the natural elements and organisms that compose our great world.
I have decided to give this book the 5 star "It Was Amazing" GoodReads rating. I have also added it to my "Uber Favorites I Own or Must Own List". Also, I just want to note here, that I had several intellectual brain spasmorgasms during it's reading of which I am still recovering from.
January 11, 2018
If this book was only on the topic of Biomimicry, it would have probably rated higher. That's a fascinating topic and would be a great deep dive to get into. The bits in the book that are straightforward on how technology can be designed to mimic nature-derived designs are the most interesting parts. Unfortunately it feels like the book skims the surface of that, and instead describes the author's own background along with his experience in dealing with starting a company that bases its technology on Biomimicry. I'm not planning on starting a company that does that, so dealing with the biases traditional companies have against nonstandard tech reads more like the author bemoaning why everyone won't just listen to him. Its more memoir than science book, and that's not really what I was hoping to read.
January 17, 2014
The Shark’s Paintbrush begins…
“Most young ladies sunning by the pool or beach probably aren’t thinking about a hippopotamus, let alone its perspiration. However, it turns out hippo sweat provides a highly effective, four-in-one sunblock.”
If your interest wasn’t instantly captured by those two sentences, perhaps you should consider reading a different book.
Readers of The Shark’s Paintbrush will enter the fascinating and sometimes weird world of biomimicry where lessons and inspiration are drawn from nature and used to design, engineer, and make products for a sustainable world.
Read the whole review at: http://greengroundswell.com/the-shark...
“Most young ladies sunning by the pool or beach probably aren’t thinking about a hippopotamus, let alone its perspiration. However, it turns out hippo sweat provides a highly effective, four-in-one sunblock.”
If your interest wasn’t instantly captured by those two sentences, perhaps you should consider reading a different book.
Readers of The Shark’s Paintbrush will enter the fascinating and sometimes weird world of biomimicry where lessons and inspiration are drawn from nature and used to design, engineer, and make products for a sustainable world.
Read the whole review at: http://greengroundswell.com/the-shark...
August 3, 2014
I learned a lot from this interesting book, and it actually gave me a little bit of hope regarding our sustainability crisis. The answers are out there, in the natural world. Of course, bureaucracy, capitalistic greed, and government are bound to get in the way. The author gives a rather bleak account of funding, venture capitalism, and startups. Still, the science parts are cool. At least we should have something to go on once the powerful get their heads out of their asses.
February 19, 2018
The first 2/3rds of this book is selling Pax - and it felt very silver bullet. The last third ... oh the last third is amazing and filled with wonderful business advice. It's clear he's been burned by the VC community.
I am a huge believer in nature and it's ability to help us create a better future. I'm so glad there are people like Mr. Harman out there to sing a different tune and give hope in these very dark times.
I am a huge believer in nature and it's ability to help us create a better future. I'm so glad there are people like Mr. Harman out there to sing a different tune and give hope in these very dark times.
April 8, 2018
Fascinating. I've long been a fan of biomimicry, and this book is well worth reading in its own right, with amazing new products and solutions to all sorts of interesting problems. The emphasis on business and products overall, however, really added a depth and interest to this particular work, and the author's stories and personal experience illuminated an incredible amount of depth of knowledge. Loved.
April 2, 2021
Not as interesting as I anticipated. I don’t think I am really the target audience. This book is geared more towards entrepreneurs who are wanting to go into biomimickry, which is really limiting and I wish the author explored more interesting facts about nature and how we can use them in technology, which is what I expected this book to be about. Instead he tells stories of his own business ventures, patting himself on the back and coming across as very self congratulatory at times.
September 18, 2013
The author inspires and teaches about all aspects of designing sustainable products based on the technology of nature. He picks up where Janine Benyus leaves off in her work of Biomimicry. This book illustrates many of the challenges of the business from creating the idea to getting your idea successfully produced. A Great Read!!!
December 17, 2017
The book is an odd mix of memoir and soapbox. There are some stories throughout the author's life which he relates in which his connections to natural lifeforms are made, but then this is terribly poorly related to some later point in his career.
In the end, what I got from this book was 'Spirals, Maaaaaaannnn. Think about it!'
In the end, what I got from this book was 'Spirals, Maaaaaaannnn. Think about it!'
June 26, 2019
Couldn’t finish the final parts on business operations. I am interested in the scientific innovations and anecdotal experiences from working in the field, but I don’t have a meeting with venture capitalists about a new venture next week. I can’t fault The author - he does state it will be about business to an extent.
April 4, 2018
The parts about the actual innovations are interesting and well-written, but there's a lot of information on companies and business strategies that are interesting only to businessmen.These parts could have been made into a different companion volume.
October 2, 2023
I learnt about biomimicry thanks to Martina Rua, a journalist specialized in innovation that came to to give a talk at the company I worked for. It seemed fascinating to me and some of the examples she showed in a Powerpoint -like a car inspired in a fish shape and texture- were impressive. We have always been imitating nature, although many times our inventions are a worse version of a marvelous nature design. This discipline explicits that and fosters innovation having this in mind.
Last Saturday I went to ITBA’s university library and found two books on the subject. I picked this one (probably I chose it for its striking cover). Maybe because it’s from 2014 but many of the examples are the same that I saw on that talk or any quick search on Google or Wikipedia. The author talks about his company, his life and projects that didn’t resonate with me. I liked it more when he introduced authors, institutions and concepts to help us keep learning on the subject after this read. For example I noted down: triple bottom line (people, planet, profit), E2 report, Da Vinci Index, FBEI, Biomimicry bridge, Biomimicry Guild and Biomimicry 3.8.
In summary, if you are interested in this subject I would recommend you to google what I noted down and also try to find a more recent book.
Last Saturday I went to ITBA’s university library and found two books on the subject. I picked this one (probably I chose it for its striking cover). Maybe because it’s from 2014 but many of the examples are the same that I saw on that talk or any quick search on Google or Wikipedia. The author talks about his company, his life and projects that didn’t resonate with me. I liked it more when he introduced authors, institutions and concepts to help us keep learning on the subject after this read. For example I noted down: triple bottom line (people, planet, profit), E2 report, Da Vinci Index, FBEI, Biomimicry bridge, Biomimicry Guild and Biomimicry 3.8.
In summary, if you are interested in this subject I would recommend you to google what I noted down and also try to find a more recent book.
March 29, 2018
Biomimicry is an interesting technology that Harman has spent first 2 parts of this book to offering us a lot of examples. Nature is our best teacher, with the long evolution process, we know nature find the best way to teach us which is the best way. I enjoyed a lot learning from so many knowledge that i could never learn from other books, or at least haven't learned from discovery channel. For the science fan like me, what a great pleasure to read all this information.
The third part is more like business aspect and the development of biomimicry companies. It seems each innovative ideas would encounter obstacles, the alternative energies would get denial by the current existing energy corporations. Venture capitals play important roles to offer necessary funds on development, but it also became a twisted profit-orientated direction. VC ended up usually taking over these biomimic companies and changed the original eco friendly development.
The third part is more like business aspect and the development of biomimicry companies. It seems each innovative ideas would encounter obstacles, the alternative energies would get denial by the current existing energy corporations. Venture capitals play important roles to offer necessary funds on development, but it also became a twisted profit-orientated direction. VC ended up usually taking over these biomimic companies and changed the original eco friendly development.
October 27, 2024
I eagerly sought information about biomimicry and different animal traits in this book. I knew just from looking at the first few pages a few times that this wasn't going to be it. but months later dug is out and specifically sought it out in the middle chapters.
the book is divided into three parts. the middle section is specific to what I wanted and had very interesting facts if a bit redundant. the rest is pretty much business. how to make your product marketable stuff like that. For someone interested in knowing how to fund their idea, specifics on venture capitalism, etc the other 2 sections would be appealing. They weren't for me. But I recognize their value there.
I'm giving it a 4 bc it would be great for someone else. Or who knows maybe for me someday. But for now I only liked the middle section. A little too much on the "i" factor.
the book is divided into three parts. the middle section is specific to what I wanted and had very interesting facts if a bit redundant. the rest is pretty much business. how to make your product marketable stuff like that. For someone interested in knowing how to fund their idea, specifics on venture capitalism, etc the other 2 sections would be appealing. They weren't for me. But I recognize their value there.
I'm giving it a 4 bc it would be great for someone else. Or who knows maybe for me someday. But for now I only liked the middle section. A little too much on the "i" factor.
December 18, 2018
This was a great introductory book to Biomimicry for someone like me who couldn't remember the last time he took a biology class. I believe it is a new fields but the potential are enormous, according to the author.
The write told successful business stories about companies using nature as a source of inspiration for great impact. I wanted to know just that, however the author also add some business advice in running a bio-mimicry startup.
The reason I gave 4 stars is because I didn't like the voice used for the audiobook. It made the book feels old, and boring. But' that's just me....
Favorite quote: "A wise man once said that it takes 20 years to be an overnight success!"
The write told successful business stories about companies using nature as a source of inspiration for great impact. I wanted to know just that, however the author also add some business advice in running a bio-mimicry startup.
The reason I gave 4 stars is because I didn't like the voice used for the audiobook. It made the book feels old, and boring. But' that's just me....
Favorite quote: "A wise man once said that it takes 20 years to be an overnight success!"
September 15, 2023
Simultaneously the most inspirational and most depressing book I've ever read. It started off a bit twee for my taste, but I quickly got sucked into the fascinating science... and then was astonished and dismayed to learn about all the barriers to getting people to actually use that science in productive ways. It was also heartbreaking to read a book written 10 years ago that proposes clear solutions... to many problems we've made absolutely no progress in solving.
March 15, 2024
Great memoir and easy-going description of amazing, inspiring technology. I've been down his road in the corporate jungle, trying to commercialize tech that works to blind, bored product managers and dinosaur corporations. Felt like my memoir at times. Recommended for anyone in the materials innovation sector.
August 16, 2023
This was an interesting perspective on biomimicry from the business side of matters, drawing on the foundations built by Benyus. Throughout, Harman presents some examples of various uncomfortable decisions between profit and planet
October 25, 2018
The possibilities of biomimetics are fascinating. I don’t plan to go into business so I skimmed some portions at the end of the book but otherwise enjoyed it thoroughly.
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April 28, 2020Solid book, gave a good field for what the field is like, certainly didn’t make me want to get into it, too capital intensive and slow and dealing with too many entrenched interests, sounds horrible
December 26, 2020
Didn't finish this. Too much pseudoscience to wade through
November 6, 2021
I read this for research, so I didn’t read every word of it, but the words I did read were very helpful.
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