Hidden Wonders

Preface ................................................................................... vi I. BUILDERS ...........................................................1 The Elegance of Small and Slender Things................................2 Azay-le-Rideau or Roofs of Beauty........................................... 10 The Eiffel Tower......................................................................... 18 Inner Balance..............................................................................26 Surface Tension ..........................................................................34 II. CREATING SHAPES.............................43 And We Think of Bubbles as Fragile!.......................................44 The Tragedy of Foam .................................................................52 Necklaces and Catenaries..........................................................60 Elegant Stone Arches.................................................................68 Shells and Mille-Feuilles ........................................................ 76 III. BUILDING WITH THREAD ........85 An Eight-Legged Builder..........................................................86 Wet Hair.....................................................................................94 Birds as Architects ...................................................................104 An Impressive Bridge of Grasses..............................................114 Folders and Tailors: Masters of Volume.................................. 122 Weaving and Braiding ............................................................. 132 Folding and Crumpling Paper Balls........................................ 142 IV. FROM SAND TO GLASS............... 153 Seeing a World in a Grain of Sand.......................................... 154 The Secret of Sandcastles......................................................... 162 Earthen Architecture............................................................... 172 Liquid Stone: Concrete ............................................................ 180 The Saga of Fusing Granular Matter....................................... 188 States of Glass .......................................................................... 196 V. MATTER IN MOTION......................... 205 Beams Bend but Do Not Break...............................................206 Vaulting into the Air................................................................ 216 The Choreography of Pine Cones............................................. 224 Flying Seeds............................................................................. 232 Quaking Bows.......................................................................... 242 Uppity Grains of Sand ............................................................. 252 VI. FRACTURES .............................................261 Prehistoric Gems ..................................................................... 262 Pointed Tears ........................................................................... 270 The Geometry of Lettuce ....................................................... 278 Eloquent Craquelures ..............................................................286 Walking on Eggs ....................................................................294 Glass Teardrops .......................................................................302 Glossary .................................................................................... 310 Reading List............................................................................. 312 Acknowledgments.................................................................... 313