Animal Quote by Maurice Wilkes
“The artificial intelligence approach may not be altogether the right one to make to the problem of designing automatic assembly devices. Animals and machines are constructed from entirely different materials and on quite different principles. When engineers have tried to draw inspiration from a study of the way animals work they have usually been misled; the history of early attempts to construct flying machines with flapping wings illustrates this very clearly.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Lecture on Engineering Design, 1970s
The quote argues that mimicking animal biology is often ineffective for designing mechanical devices, as the underlying materials and principles differ.
In simple terms: Copying nature doesn’t always work for machines.
Key Takeaway
Seek designs based on mechanical principles, not biological analogies.
Themes
engineering
design
biology
mechanics
innovation
Mood
skeptical
analytical
Type
cautionary
technical
When to use this quote
- robotic assembly
- manufacturing automation
- bio-inspired engineering
- aerodynamics
Key Concepts
biomimicry
material science
systems theory
Questions to Reflect On
- When is nature a good model for engineering?
- What alternatives exist to biomimicry?
A Different Perspective
Biological inspiration can mislead when material constraints dominate.
![“Nature, ... in order to carry out the marvelous operations [that occur] in animals and plants has been pleased to construct their organized bodies with a very large number of machines, which are of necessity made up of extremely minute parts so shaped and situated as to form a marvelous organ, the…” quote by Marcello Malpighi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/701/marcello-malpighi-36588_animals_nature-in-order-to-carry-out-the-marvelo_3124759.jpg)
![“In the judgment of design engineers, the ordinary means of communicating with a computer are entirely inadequate. [...] Graphical communication in some form or other is of vital importance in engineering as that subject is now conducted; we must either provide the capability in our computer…” quote by Maurice Wilkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b5a/maurice-wilkes-46458_capability_in-the-judgment-of-design-engineers-the_237746.jpg)
![“Much of the early engineering development of digital computers was done in universities. A few years ago, the view was commonly expressed that universities had played their part in computer design, and that the matter could now safely be left to industry. [...] Apart from the obvious functions of…” quote by Maurice Wilkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cd0/maurice-wilkes-46458_computer_much-of-the-early-engineering-developmen_2930501.jpg)
