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This book questions the physics of diversity why diversity happens by itself, why it is a phenomenon that has a mind of its own, and why it opposes any effort of being shoehorned into a few distinct (antagonistic) classes. Physics is not opinion; physical facts can be put to the test. The book begins with fundamentals of design evolution in nature movement, time direction, freedom to change, size, shape, structure. It continues with pictorial examples of distinct evolutionary domains of the most common type: people, animals, athletes, rhythms, technologies, and universities. The features of diversity shared so clearly by so many dissimilar domains empower the biosphere with the design that sustains it and assures its future. An integral part of nature s design is the merit system. This way the readers discover on their own that diversity emerges naturally, inevitably, steadfastly, and beneficially. The book is alive with illustrations, anecdotes, humor, and history.
- Reveals that diversity emerges naturally, inevitably, steadfastly, and beneficially
- Explains how Unnatural (imposed) diversity is destined to fade, like all the unhelpful ideas, inventions and laws
- Liberates the readers to question, think, decide, and then question themselves
List of contents
Overview.- Common sense.- Rivers of people.- Animals fly run and swim.- Athletes compete.- Rhythm with technique.- Divergent with convergent evolution.- Technology with enhanced freedom.- Universities compete.- Merit and hierarchy.- Unnatural diversity.- Lack of freedom.- Diversity of opinions.- Intangible and unthinkable.- The flower and the bee.
About the author
Prof. Adrian Bejan was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal for “Thermodynamics and constructal theory, which predicts natural design and its evolution in engineering, scientific, and social systems”. He earned all his degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: B.S. (1971, Honors Course), M.S. (1972, Honors Course), and Ph.D. (1975). He was a Fellow in the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, at the University of California, Berkeley (1976-1978). At Duke University, he is the J. A. Jones Distinguished Professor since 1989. He authored over 30 books, including
The Physics of Life
(2016) and over 700 peer-refereed journal articles, and was awarded 18 honorary doctorates from universities in 11 countries. Dr. Bejan’s impact on thermal sciences is highlighted by his original methods of theory, modeling, analysis and design that today are associated with his name: life and evolution as physics, constructal law, entropy generation minimization, scale analysis, heatlines, temperature-heat (T-Q) drawings, and many more. He has received the highest international awards for thermal sciences, and is a member of the Academy of Europe.
Summary
This book questions the
physics of diversity
—why diversity happens by itself, why it is a phenomenon that has a mind of its own, and why it opposes any effort of being shoehorned into a few distinct (antagonistic) classes. Physics is not opinion; physical facts can be put to the test. The book begins with fundamentals of design evolution in nature—movement, time direction, freedom to change, size, shape, structure. It continues with pictorial examples of distinct evolutionary domains of the most common type: people, animals, athletes, rhythms, technologies, and universities. The features of diversity shared so clearly by so many dissimilar domains empower the biosphere with the design that sustains it and assures its future. An integral part of nature’s design is the merit system. This way the readers discover on their own that diversity emerges naturally, inevitably, steadfastly, and beneficially. The book is alive with illustrations, anecdotes, humor, and history.
- Reveals that diversity emerges naturally, inevitably, steadfastly, and beneficially
- Explains how Unnatural (imposed) diversity is destined to fade, like all the unhelpful ideas, inventions and laws
- Liberates the readers to question, think, decide, and then question themselves
