Plant Biomechanics : An Overview and Prospectus 1 (original) (raw)

History shows that engineers and physicists can learn a great deal from studying plants. The use of organisms in general and plants in particular as models to illustrate physical principles or to construct mechanical devices has a long and distinguished history. Galileo Galilei (1638) used the hollow stalks of grass to illustrate his idea that peripheral rather than centrally located construction materials resist bending forces. He also developed his concept of geometric self-similarity (which presaged J. S. Huxley’s 1932 study of allometry and biological scaling principles) by comparing the mechanics of small and large oak trees. Leonardo da Vinci’s interest in fluid mechanics was inspired by his observation that the cross-sectional areas of tree trunks are roughly equal to the sum of the branch crosssectional areas distal to any point along a trunk’s length, and his drawings of the first parachute and autogyroscopic propeller were based on meticulous examinations of the dandelion ...