This is a thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded edition of a classic illustrated introduction to the structural materials in natural organisms and what we can learn from them to improve man-made technology--from nanotechnology to textiles to architecture. Julian Vincent's book has long been recognized as a standard work on the engineering design of biomaterials and is used by undergraduates, graduates, researchers, and professionals studying biology, zoology, engineering, and biologically inspired design. This third edition incorporates new developments in the field, the most important of which have been at the molecular level. All of the illustrations have been redrawn, the references have been updated, and a new chapter on biomimetic design has been added. Vincent emphasizes the mechanical properties of structural biomaterials, their contribution to the lives of organisms, and how these materials differ from man-made ones. He shows how the properties of biomaterials are derived from their chemistry and interactions, and how to measure them. Starting with proteins and polysaccharides, he shows how skin and hair function, how materials self-assemble, and how ceramics such as bone and mother-of-pearl can be so stiff and tough, despite being made in water in benign ambient conditions. Finally, he combines these topics with an analysis of how the design of biomaterials can be adapted in technology, and presents a series of guidelines for designers.

Preface viiCHAPTER ONE: Basic Elasticity and Viscoelasticity 11.1 Hookean Materials and Short-Range Forces 11.2 Non-Hookean Materials and High Strains 41.3 The Energy Approach 61.4 Yield and Fracture 211.5 Adhesion 28
CHAPTER TWO: Proteins 292.1 Amino Acids and Their Polymerization--Primary Structure 292.2 Conformation--Secondary Structure 332.3 Structural Proteins 352.4 Coping with Strain Energy 57
CHAPTER THREE: Sugars and Fillers 613.1 Fibers 653.2 Structural Polysaccharides in Plants 683.3 Water, the Invisible Support 723.4 Mucus 82
CHAPTER FOUR: Soggy Skeletons and Shock Absorbers 844.1 Composite Materials 844.2 Stress--Strain Behavior 884.3 Poisson's Ratio and Auxeticism 894.4 The Skeleton of the S ea Anemone 954.5 Stretching the Pregnant L ocust 994.6 Fracture--Chance and Choice 1014.7 Stiffness--A Biological Variable 108
CHAPTER FIVE: Stiff Materials from Polymers 1165.1 Crystals and O rder 1165.2 Composite Materials 1185.3 To Stiffen the Matrix 1295.4 Hardness and Indentation 1335.5 Cellular Materials 135
CHAPTER SIX: Biological Ceramics 1436.1 Calcium Salts or Silica? 1446.2 Problems with Mechanical Tests 1476.3 Mollusc Shells 1516.4 The Functional Design of Bone 1596.5 Teeth 1696.6 Eggshell 1716.7 Echinoderms 175
CHAPTER SEVEN: Implementing Ideas Gleaned from Biology 1787.1 Biomimetic Products 1797.2 Quasi-BiomimeticProducts 1857.3 Techniques for Biomimetics 1877.4 Instead of nergy . . . 1937.5 Use Space 1957.6 . . or Use Information . . .1977.7 . . . and Structure . . . 1997.8 Well, That's It 204
References 205Index 223