Birds fly with speed and grace. They build intricate nests. Birds are survivors. They live on every continent of the world. Humans learned to fly by copying birds. Today, many new discoveries come from the study of birds. Scientists, architects, doctors, and engineers learn from them.

Spiders may be creepy, but they know amazing tricks. Some species have learned to fly. Others like to hangout underwater. Spider silk is strong and flexible. Spiders use it for more than just webs. Scientists keep trying to mimic spider silk. Once they succeed, people will find many awesome uses.

Few species are as smart and playful as dolphins. These speedsters of the sea live in social groups. They have taught us many useful lessons about life in the ocean. With natural sonar, they can swim and hunt while blindfolded. Scientists study dolphins to learn more about intelligence in animals and in humans.

Plants can do amazing things. They grow in the most unlikely places. They soak up sunlight for energy, and use rain, wind, and animals to spread their seeds. Some plants lure insects for food. Others can self-clean. Humans have copied many clever plant tricks. Today, scientists are placing technology inside plants. The results are awesome.

Whales are the world’s largest animals. They roam the ocean in search of food, calling to each other with song. Humans nearly hunted whales to extinction. Now we learn from them, making better wind turbines and water filters. Whales may also help with medicine and climate change. They are awesome.

Nature did it first! A beautiful and whimsically illustrated explanation of cool inventions like Velcro and scuba suits that were inspired by the natural world Discover how bats led to the development of radar, whales inspired the pacemaker, and the lotus flower may help us produce indestructible clothing. "Biomimicry" comes from the Greek "bio" (life) and "mimesis" (imitation)." Here are various and amazing ways that nature inspires us to create cool inventions in science and medicine, clothing design, and architecture. From the fireflies that showed inventors how LEDs could give off more light to the burdock plant that inspired velcro to the high speed trains of Japan that take the form of a kingfisher's sleek, aerodynamic head, there are innumerable ways that we can create smarter, better, safer inventions by observing the natural world. Author Seraphine Menu and illustrator Emmanuelle Walker also gently explain that our extraordinary, diverse, and awe-inspiring world is like a carefully calibrated machine and its fragile balance must be treated with extreme care and respect. "Go outside," they say, "observe, compare, and maybe some day you'll be the next person to be struck by a great idea."

Discover more than 40 examples of technology influenced by animals, meet some of the scientists and the story behind their inventions, and learn about some of the incredible creatures who have inspired multiple creation