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The book begins with familiar designs found all around and inside us (such as the ‘trees’ of river basins, human lungs, blood and city traffic). It then shows how all flow systems are driven by power from natural engines everywhere, and how they are endlessly shaped because of freedom. Finally, Professor Bejan explains how people, like everything else that moves on earth, are driven by power derived from our “engines” that consume fuel and food, and that our movement dissipates the power completely and changes constantly for greater access, economies of scale, efficiency, innovation and life. Written for wide audiences of all ages, including readers interested in science, patterns in nature, similarity and non-uniformity, history and the future, and those just interested in having fun with ideas, the book shows how many “design change” concepts acquire a solid scientific footing and how they exist with the evolution of nature, society, technology and science.
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Adrian Bejan Hieraarchy in Nature, Society and Science Freedom and Evolution Adrian Bejan Freedom and Evolution Hierarchy in Nature, Society and Science 123 Adrian Bejan Duke University Durham, NC, USA ISBN 978-3-030-34008-7 ISBN 978-3-030-34009-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34009-4 (eBook) © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Preface Evolution is the defining phenomenon of nature. Everywhere we look what we see is evolving becaue it is free to move and morph. Without freedom to change, there is nothing, no design, no evolution, and therefore no future. Freedom is everywhere because evolution (design change) is everywhere in the inanimate, animate and human realms. Yet, unlike evolution, freedom is not a scientific subject. This struck me as strange. It is as if scientists are afraid to speak the word “freedom” even though every day they rely on the reality (the physics) behind that word. For example, every single book of thermodynamics is filled with analyses and designs of “processes”. The definition of process is the change in the description (the “state”) of the system. Clearly, if the system is to change, then it must have in its description the property called freedom. It’s not surprising that freedom has been overlooked in physics. The more common a physical presence, the more likely it is that it is overlooked. It happened this way with gravity, sound, turbulence, and fish swimming. It to