Biomimetics: Its Technological and Societal Potential

This introductory chapter contains a short discussion of the topic of biomimetics with special emphasis on background and goals together with an overview of the book. Biomimetics is described as information transfer from biology to the engineering sciences. Methods and preconditions for this interdisciplinary scientific subject are mentioned briefly focusing on the educational issues and the pathway to product development. To provide the reader with a preliminary information, an overview of the book is given devoted to a brief description of the remaining chapters which are allocated to three main sections “Material & Structure”, “Form & Construction”, and “Information & Dynamics”.