Wild Design: The Architecture of Nature

(Hardback)

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Description

Nature is the original architect, designing and building extraordinary structures through more than four billion years of evolution, and in response to the tremendous forces of the Earth.

Wild Design celebrates wild design in the world of animals, plants, and other organisms, as well as in earth, stone, and water. This illustrated compendium explores structures as intricate as the microscopic glass" cases of jewel-like diatoms, as flamboyant as the festooned leks of bowerbirds, and as mysterious as the towering hoodoos of the Colorado Plateau. Bringing together art and science in lush illustrations and lively text, Wild Design is a great gift for anyone curious about the creative genius of the world around us."

Reviews

"A collection of fascinating essays that explore examples of amazing natural structures built by nature's architects and builders, offering 'a miniature cabinet of curiosities.'"
- Kennebec Journal/Augusta Morning Sentinel
"[A] slim, charming look at some of the most interesting results of 3.8 billion years of evolution...Wild Design will encourage any designer who looks to nature for design ideas and cares about the continuation of natural systems and, in turn, humanity."
- The Dirt (ASLA)
"The Maine-based, award-winning children's book author Kimberly Ridley shares her sense of wonder for the natural world with adults in her latest release. By pairing brief essays on the forms of nature - including stalactites, coral reefs, pitcher plants and beaver lodges, to name a few - with reprints of antique botanical illustrations, Ridley has created a 'miniature cabinet of curiosities' for readers to enjoy."
- Maine Organic Farmer Gardener,

"Wild Design...is a beautiful little book filled with exquisite vintage drawings including fungi, flowers, seashells and snowflakes. The book is a thank you to Mother Nature and a plea for humans to make better lifestyle choices so plant and animal extinction isn't the norm."
-- Akron Beacon Journal,

"Filled with antique illustrations, this lovely little stocking-stuffer book explores the magical design found in the natural world, from minerals, shells, and plants to insects, birds, and animals. Author Kimberly Ridley...challenges us to go outdoors to see the wonders all around us."
--The American Gardener,

"This brand-new, coffee-table--friendly tome from science writer and essayist Kimberly Ridley reflects on wondrous patterns of engineering and design in the natural world -- from mineral structures to birds' nests to underground fungal colonies -- accompanied by way-cool vintage scientific illustrations. Readers won't see a beaver dam or a mushroom the same way again."
-- Down East,

"Through a mix of energetic essays and striking imagery, Ridley celebrates the shapes of protists, fungi, plants, animals, and other living things, whether via objects of their handiwork, or the bodies of the organisms themselves....With each shape Ridley unpacks, readers will likely feel as if they're viewing some of the most fascinating designs on earth. Although some can be seen only with a microscope, many can be observed by simply stepping outdoors, if we only take the time to stop and look."
-- The Slowdown,

"William Blake's poetic directive to "see a World in a Grain of Sand / And a Heaven in a Wild Flower" encapsulates the message of Kimberly Ridley's Wild Design....Designers and architects have always turned to the natural world for inspiration, and collectors grand and small have long sought out the wondrous natural treasures showcased in this book. Wild Design is an evocative miniature cabinet of curiosities, in portable codex form."
- Foreword Reviews,

"Wild Design is a book I want to read every day to remind me of the myriad ways our planet is alive. Kimberly Ridley's evocative and precise language is informed by her deep understanding of science and her own sense of wonder. She sees the interconnectedness of the world with her eyes wide open and her vision opens our eyes as well."
- Stuart Kestenbaum, Maine Poet Laureate 2016-2121,

"A feast for the eye and the mind. This celebration of nature's varied and often surprising forms is an invitation to delight, curiosity, and wonder."
- David George Haskell, author of Pulitzer finalist, The Forest Unseen, and Burroughs medalist, The Songs of Trees. Professor, University of the South,

Author Bio

Kimberly Ridley is a science writer, essayist, and author of award-winning nature books for children, including the Kirkus-starred The Secret Pool. A former magazine editor, she has published articles and essays in The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, Down East, and many other publications. She holds an M.S. in Science Journalism from Boston University and lives in Brooklin, Maine, where she loves exploring the wild world.