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The Biomimicry Revolution: Learning from Nature How to Inhabit the Earth
Modernity is founded on the belief that the world we build is a human invention, not a part of nature. The ecological consequences of this idea have been catastrophic. We have laid waste to natural ecosystems, replacing them with fundamentally unsustainable human designs. With time running out to address the environmental crises we have caused, our best path forward is to turn to nature for guidance.
In this book, Henry Dicks explores the philosophical significance of a revolutionary approach to sustainable biomimicry. The term describes the application and adaptation of strategies found in nature to the development of artificial products and systems, such as passive cooling techniques modeled on termite mounds or solar cells modeled on leaves. Dicks argues that biomimicry, typically seen as just a design strategy, can also serve as the basis for a new environmental philosophy that radically alters how we understand and relate to the natural world. By showing how we can imitate, emulate, and learn from nature, biomimicry points us toward a genuinely sustainable way of inhabiting the earth.
Rooted in philosophy, The Biomimicry Revolution has profound implications spanning the natural sciences, design, architecture, sustainability studies, science and technology studies, and the environmental humanities. It presents a sweeping reconception of what philosophy can be and offers a powerful new vision of terrestrial existence.
In this book, Henry Dicks explores the philosophical significance of a revolutionary approach to sustainable biomimicry. The term describes the application and adaptation of strategies found in nature to the development of artificial products and systems, such as passive cooling techniques modeled on termite mounds or solar cells modeled on leaves. Dicks argues that biomimicry, typically seen as just a design strategy, can also serve as the basis for a new environmental philosophy that radically alters how we understand and relate to the natural world. By showing how we can imitate, emulate, and learn from nature, biomimicry points us toward a genuinely sustainable way of inhabiting the earth.
Rooted in philosophy, The Biomimicry Revolution has profound implications spanning the natural sciences, design, architecture, sustainability studies, science and technology studies, and the environmental humanities. It presents a sweeping reconception of what philosophy can be and offers a powerful new vision of terrestrial existence.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 14, 2023
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January 11, 2026
An informative and systematic explanation of biomimicry as a philosophy of biology. Dicks' ontological argument for nature as a model, measure and mentor is not only robust, but cogently moves beyond the superficiality of product innovation to a consideration of the standards within nature herself, and how they can guide us toward a non-anthropocentric paradigms that seeks to 'participate in the provision and maintenance of habitable earth for its living inhabitants' (p. 179). Highly recommended for designers and researchers working in the intersections of emerging technologies and environmental sustainability.
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