Ultimate Engineering: An Engineer Investigates the Biomechanics of the Human Body

by Stuart Burgess

Who first invented fiber optic cables? Or camera shutters? Or truss structures? Or double wishbone suspensions? Or block-style Roman arches? What about laser beams? As award-winning British engineer and designer Stuart Burgess reveals, the original inventor of these and countless other ingenious devices was no human inventor. Instead, the “first to market” was the designing force behind the living world.

Evolutionary theory predicts a living world crowded with substandard designs. But as Burgess shows in Ultimate Engineering, the latest science has discovered just the opposite—designs so advanced they are at the limit of the possible, precisely as proponents of the theory of intelligent design anticipated. As Burgess also details, he and other researchers are taking the discovery of these advanced designs and using them to inspire fresh technological breakthroughs—a revolution known as biomimetics.

Genres: Science

450 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 12, 2026

About the author

Dr Stuart Burgess, BSc, PhD, CEng, MIMechE, is a Reader in Engineering Design at Bristol University. His research areas include the study of design in nature. He previously worked in industry, designing rocket and satellite systems for the European Space Agency. He is winner of the Worshipful Company of Turners Gold Medal for the design of the solar array deployment system on the 1.4 billion ENVISAT earth observation satellite.

Reviews

[Samantha]

As a biologist and Christian who grew up in a family of engineers, I found this book to be fascinating and delightful. I wish a book like this had existed during my undergraduate and graduate studies, both as an apologetic aid for many spirited conversations with classmates and professors with opposing worldviews, but also for my own wonder and delight.

This would be an incredible companion to any Human Anatomy and Physiology course, bringing the joints and musculature to life in a way that rote memorization of lists cannot do. Over and over throughout this book, I found myself rotating a wrist or ankle joint in different directions or marveling at elements of my body in ways that never happened in my Anatomy courses. Morning runs are filled with much more appreciation and wonder at each stride. And as a mother of three, the chapter on birth biomechanics was particularly delightful.

This book has enough technical language that it would probably be inaccessible (or at least a bit of a slog) for a non-science major, but any biology or engineering student would probably find it fascinating. I’d highly recommend this book to anyone in those fields.

[Blake]

EXCELLENT!!!!!!! I am not scientifically minded (couldn't pass chemistry class in high school) but this book, while certain elements were "over my head," was phenomenal in every aspect and very readable. I absolutely love this book and frankly, I believe every person should read it. I don't say that about too many books, other than the Bible (which is the greatest, most life-changing book ever penned) and maybe a couple of others. What made Ultimate Engineering get such high recommendations from me? Stuart Burgess, as a professor and researcher in the department of mechanical engineering at several universities, as well as a designer of various things—such as transmission designer for the gold medal-winning British Olympic Cycling Team, a patent holder for gearboxes used on the four largest earth-observation satellites of the European Space Agency, and winner of awards such as the top mechanic engineer in the UK—writes extensively in this classic volume about the engineering found in each part of the human body. Starting with the toes and working his way up the human body, Burgess demonstrates how each body part and its meticulous elements point to the ultimate engineer, a divine designer. In many chapters, he contrasts his findings and understanding with the futile arguments used by the evolutionist camp, repeatedly showing how evolution has no explanation for very specific details of engineering found in the human body. Burgess writes about the: Foot/Ankle, the knee joint, the wrist joint, the fingers, the spine (incredible chapter), the mouth/nose/throat, the jaw, the middle ear, the eye, the skin, Birth Biomechanics (absolutely phenomenal chapter), the blood circulatory system, the digestive system, muscles/tendons, and the nervous system. Each chapter was filled with specific demonstrations of the engineering within the human body that demands a divine design. In the last seven chapters, Burgess writes about "Biological Systems that cannot self-organize"; Evolutionary theory in decline; Intelligent Design ascending; Ultimate Engineering throughout nature (another fascinating chapter); the ultimate diversity throughout nature; and then a plea for the Real Pro-Science paradigm to stand up. He ends his book by speaking to his experience as one who advocates for Intelligent Design in the public, secular forum.

He ends his book with this statement: “…Like many other researchers today, I am awestruck by the ultimate engineering of biological systems and can see how this points to intentional and purposeful design. But you do not have to have research grants or a PhD to be awestruck by design in biology. You only need to look at your own hands and feet, or consider your creative abilities, or contemplate your capacity to sense beauty. If there is an intelligent designer, people ask, shouldn’t he demonstrate his existence? Well, I believe the designer has done so, through ultimate engineering, through extremes of design, and most of all, through the design of humankind.”

Other than the Bible (and a couple of other books), I rarely read a book a second time, but Ultimate Engineering is one that I may well return to in the future. If you are looking for a great read about God's creation and His amazing engineering work, I highly recommend this book.

[David]

Whether you are a biologist (I'm not) or an engineer (I am), you will find this to be a worthwhile read. Designing a good system can be difficult for any engineer, taking much thought, planning and coordination of sub-systems. These don't just come together on their own. With his background in biomechanics, Stuart Burgess takes his readers into the complex engineering of the human body. Everything from the wrists to the heart to the nervous system to the eye to the digestive system, Burgess explains how these feats of engineering are so well suited to their function that human engineering can't come close to replicating it.

In each chapter, Burgess uses layman's terms to describe the biological system. He then discusses the evolutionary literature on that system, which typically involves an author complaining that the system is a poor design. But Burgess knows both biology and engineering, and he expertly handles those criticisms showing the flaws in their thinking and the brilliance of the engineering of the system in question. In many cases, he is able to point to human engineering breakthroughs that were inspired by the engineering already in place in the human body, demonstrating the greater efficiency and versatility of these systems.

Ultimately, the complex design of these systems points to an Intelligent Designer and point away from an unguided process such as evolution.