Inspired By Nature Minerals

A look at how nature serves as a source of inspiration for contemporary architecture. This collection of contemporary projects reveals conscious and unconscious visual analogies with the mineral world and explains why natural forms make good models for structures. Included are residences, museums, theaters, offices, and stadiums by such notables as Daniel Libeskind, Antoine Predock, Will Bruder, Dominique Perrault, Coop Himmelb(1)au, and XTEN. 209 color illustrations, 192 line drawings

The inner architecture of a material can have an astonishing effect on its overall properties and is vital to understand when designing new materials. Nature is a master at designing hierarchical structures and so researchers are looking at biological examples for inspiration, specifically to understand how nature arranges the inner architectures for a particular function in order to apply these design principles into man-made materials. Materials Design Inspired by Nature is the first book to address the relationship between the inner architecture of natural materials and their physical properties for materials design. The book explores examples from plants, the marine world, arthropods and bacteria, where the inner architecture is exploited to obtain specific mechanical, optical or magnetic properties along with how these design principles are used in man-made products. Details of the experimental methods used to investigate hierarchical structures are also given. Written by leading experts in bio-inspired materials research, this is essential reading for anyone developing new materials.

A stunning visual reference book for little geologists who love to find fascinating rocks all around them. Identify colorful gemstones, sparkly crystals, the toughest rocks, and ancient fossils. Packed with fun facts, information, and extensive photos all about the rocks and minerals that make up the world around us. Interactive learning that engages young scholarly minds. Learn about 64 different types of rocks and minerals, how to tell the difference between them and where to find them. Dig into all the interesting geological materials from deep space to the deepest caves. You’ll even discover glow in the dark minerals and living gems! Find out about the stuff our world is made of, and how rocks and minerals form over time. This captivating book introduces children to hands-on science with fun activities like starting your own impressive rock collection and how to stay safe on your rock finding missions. Written for kids aged 6 to 9 with bite-sized information and explanations. The easy-to-understand language gives them a rock-solid foundation for science subjects. The geology book includes the phonetic pronunciation of the rock and mineral names so your little one will sound like a rock expert in no time. Rockin’ It With Stones And Minerals • Stunning high-quality photographs. • Inspiring activities for little Earth scientists. • Over 64 types of rocks, their properties, and how they are formed.

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Did you know culinary salt is the mineral halite? Or that the pigment vermillion is powdered cinnabar, a mineral whose name comes from the Persian for "dragon's blood"? Discover the extraordinary mineral treasures that form our planet and that today we use in everything, from makeup and cookery to agriculture and high-tech. Nature Guide Rocks and Minerals is your essential collector's companion, with illustrated entries on hundreds of minerals, gems, and rocks from actinium to zirconium. Its breathtaking array includes organic minerals, such as pearls and corals, as well as silicates and "native elements" like gold. Browse to find wonderful gems, including opals, or pyropes - a deep-red garnet the size of a hen's egg. Nature Guide Rocks and Minerals reveals each mineral's defining characteristics and explains how and where they were formed, how they were first identified, their uses, and their chemical composition. Whether you are a geology student or starting your own collection, this fact-packed book is both a fascinating read and an essential identification guide.

Is Gaia becoming Thanatia, a resource exhausted planet? For how long can our high-tech society be sustained in the light of declining mineral ore grades, heavy dependence on un-recycled critical metals and accelerated material dispersion? These are all root causes of future disruptions that need to be addressed today. This book presents a cradle-to-cradle view of the Earth's abiotic resources through a novel and rigorous approach based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics: heat dissipates and materials deteriorate and disperse. Quality is irreversibly lost. This allows for the assessment of such depletion and can be used to estimate the year where production of the main mineral commodities could reach its zenith. By postulating Thanatia, one acquires a sense of destiny and a concern for a unified global management of the planet's abiotic resource endowment. The book covers the core aspects of geology, geochemistry, mining, metallurgy, economics, the environment, thermodynamics and thermochemistry. It is supported by comprehensive databases related to mineral resources, including detailed compositions of the Earth's layers, thermochemical properties of over 300 substances, historical energy and mineral resource inventories, energy consumption and environmental impacts in the mining and metallurgical sector and world recycling rates of commodities. Contents:The Threads: Minerals, Economy and Thermodynamics:The Depletion of Non-Renewable Abiotic ResourcesEconomic versus Thermodynamic AccountingFrom Thermodynamics to Economics and EcologyPhysical Geonomics: A Cradle-Grave-Cradle Approach for Mineral Depletion AssessmentOver the Rainbow: From Nature to Industry:The Geochemistry of the EarthThe Resources of the EarthAn Introduction to Mining and MetallurgyMetallurgy of Key MineralsDown the Rainbow: From Grave to Cradle:Thermodynamics of Mineral ResourcesThanatia and the Crepuscular Earth ModelThe Exergy of the Earth and Its Mineral ResourcesThe Exergy Replacement Costs of Mineral WealthThe Exergy Evolution of Mineral WealthTying the Rainbows: Towards a Rational Management of Resources:Recycling SolutionsThe Challenge of Resource DepletionThe Principles of Resource EfficiencyEpilogue Readership: Thermodynamicists, geologists, economists, policy makers, and mining, environmental and chemical engineers. Keywords:Exergy;Mineral Resources;Depletion;Hubbert Peak;Gibbs Free Energy;Mineralogical Composition of the Earth;ThermodynamicsReviews: "This is an exhaustive treatment of the subject with numerous tables of the baseline date and discussions going from basic thermodynamics to economics and social sciences. It is an essential read for any scientist who is concerned with resource evaluation and how we can best manage these assets and continue to live on an Earth in which we appreciate the service provided by the resource and thus avoid Thanatia in defence of Gaia." John Ludden Executive Director, British Geological Survey “'Thanatia' presents a refreshing way of analysing the run-down of our mineral inheritance … To serious students of the resource problem the numerous tables in 'Thanatia' are useful because they are thought-provoking as much as for the numerical data. 'Thanatia' is a big book, with a wealth of data and background material on the minerals industry, representing many years of intensive investigation and analysis.” Jane H Hodgkinson & Frank D Stacey CSIRO, Australia Authors of The Earth as a Cradle for Life “The unusual title of the book Thanatia (death in Greek) leads its readers to understand what sustainability really means and to quantify the problem of mineral depletion using both disciplines thermodynamics and economics. ” Ph. Vieillard Director of Research C.N.R.S., Poitiers, France

The question of how to effectively, efficiently, and responsibly manage used nuclear fuels is a concern of major impediment in the light of today's increasing usage of nuclear power and development of advanced nuclear reactors. This book focuses on two significant areas of (used) nuclear fuel: the reprocessing technology, and waste disposal and management. The book covers the fundamental knowledge, the current state-of-the-art, and future research activities for each topic. This book provides readers with the fundamental knowledge behind of nuclear used fuel reprocessing and radioactive waste management, and their technical applications, and their requirements and practices; to make the readers aware of social, economic, and environmental concerns as well as technical research needs. The book covers two well-known and well-developed reprocessing technologies: aqueous reprocessing technology, and electrochemical pyroprocessing. On the subject of waste management, it covers the dry storage of used nuclear fuel, novel waste form design, and nuclear waste disposal. This book is a good guide for readers who want to understand, apply, or develop the technologies.

Full-color, illustrated photographs of 300 different minerals and gemstones including copper, gold, and silver; and provides information on color, luster, streak, hardness, specific gravity, cleavage, habit, and crystal system.