I provide below what I hope is a fairly comprehensive list of articles on the philosophy and theory of biomimicry, as well as some useful links and book suggestions to help find out more about biomimicry in general. All (or almost all) can be accessed for free by clicking on the weblink, though in some cases only the ‘pre-publication’ version of articles is available, because of copyright issues. If you have any suggestions for additional references, please feel free to contact me (see Contacts).
Blogs and interviews
Dicks, H. 2023. “Reimagining Knowledge”, blog for the Institute of Art and Ideas.
https://iai.tv/articles/reimagining-knowledge-henry-dicks-auid-2638?_auid=2020
Dicks, H. 2023. “Recently published book spotlight: The Biomimicry Revolution“. Blog for the American Philosophy Association.
Dicks, H. 2023. “Learning from Nature how to Inhabit the Earth.” Blog for Columbia University Press.
Dicks, H. 2022. “Biomimicry and Philosophy,” blog for the Biomimicry Institute.
Philosophy Articles
- Bensaude-Vincent, B. 2011. ‘A Cultural Perspective on Biomimetics’. Advances in Biomimetics. ed. Anne George. InTech. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221912452_A_Cultural_Perspective_on_Biomimetics
- Bensaude-Vincent, B. 2019. ‘Bio-Informed Emerging Technologies and their Relation to the Sustainability Aims of Biomimicry’, Environmental Values 28 (5): 551-571 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336186287_Bio-Informed_Emerging_Technologies_and_Their_Relation_to_the_Sustainability_Aims_of_Biomimicry
- Blok, V. and B. Gremmen. 2016. ‘Ecological Innovation: Biomimicry as a New Way of Thinking and Acting Ecologically’. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 29: 203–217 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10806-015-9596-1
- Blok, V. 2016. ‘Biomimicry and the Materiality of Ecological Technology and Innovation’, Environmental Philosophy 13 (2): 195-214 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26169863?seq=1 (sign up required)
- Blok, V. 2017. ‘Earthing Technology : Towards an Ecocentric Concept of Biomimetic Technologies in the Anthropocene’. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology 21: 127-149 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317211266_Earthing_Technology_Toward_an_Eco-centric_Concept_of_Biomimetic_Technologies_in_the_Anthropocene
- Dicks, H. 2016. ‘The Philosophy of Biomimicry’. Philosophy & Technology, 29 (3), 223-243 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284139405_The_Philosophy_of_Biomimicry
- Dicks, H. 2017. ‘The Poetics of Biomimicry: The Contribution of Poetic Concepts to Philosophical Inquiry into the Biomimetic Principle of Nature as Model’. Environmental Philosophy 14 (2): 191-219 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319647864_The_Poetics_of_Biomimicry_in_advance_The_Contribution_of_Poetic_Concepts_to_Philosophical_Inquiry_into_the_Biomimetic_Principle_of_Nature_as_Model
- Dicks, H. 2017. ;Environmental Ethics and Biomimetic Ethics: Nature as Object of Ethics and Nature as Source of Ethics’, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 30 (2): 255-274. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317746626_Environmental_Ethics_and_Biomimetic_Ethics_Nature_as_Object_of_Ethics_and_Nature_as_Source_of_Ethics
- Dicks, H. 2019. ‘A New Way of Valuing Nature: Articulating Biomimicry and Ecosystem Services’. Environmental Ethics 39 (3): 281-299 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324967795_A_New_Way_of_Valuing_Nature_Articulating_Biomimicry_and_Ecosystem_Services
- Dicks, H. 2019. ‘The Biomimicry Revolution in Environmental Epistemology’. Ethics and the Environment 24 (2): 43-66 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337164145_The_Biomimicry_Revolution_in_Environmental_Epistemology
- Dicks, H. 2019. ‘Being like Gaia: Biomimicry and Ecological Ethics’, Environmental Values 28 (5): 601-620 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331952254_Being_Like_Gaia_Biomimicry_and_Ecological_Ethics
- Dicks, H. and Blok, V. 2019. ‘Can Imitating Nature Save the Planet?’, Environmental Values 28 (5): 519-52 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335834239_Can_Imitating_Nature_Save_the_Planet
- Dicks, H. 2023. Biomimetic Epistemology. Philosophy of Science. Published online 2023:1-21. doi:10.1017/psa.2023.173 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/philosophy-of-science/article/biomimetic-epistemology/9F049DB2D88D32CF8DBA84DAEF751361
- Mathews, F. 2011. ‘Towards a Deeper Philosophy of Biomimicry’. Organization & Environment, 24(4): 364-387 http://www.freyamathews.net/full-text-articles
- Mathews, F. 2019. ‘Biomimicry and the Problem of Praxis’. Environmental Values 28 (2019): 573-600 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334586603_Biomimicry_and_the_Problem_of_Praxis
- Van der Hout, S. 2014. ‘The Homeotechnological Turn: Sloterdijk’s Response to the Ecological Crisis’. Environmental Values 23: 423-442 The Homeotechnological Turn: Sloterdijk’s Response to the Ecological Crisis | Sanne van der Hout – Academia.edu
- Rolston, H. 1979. ‘Can and ought we to follow nature?”, Environmental Ethics 1 (1979): 7-30 https://mountainscholar.org/handle/10217/36777
- Zwart, H. 2019. ‘What is Mimicked by Biomimicry? Synthetic Cells as Exemplifications of the Threefold Biomimicry Paradox’. Environmental Values 28 (5): 527-549 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334454560_What_is_Mimicked_by_Biomimicry_Synthetic_Cells_as_Exemplifications_of_the_Threefold_Biomimicry_Paradox
See also the special issue I co-edited with Vincent Blok:
Dicks, H. and V. Blok, 2019. ‘The Philosophy of Biomimicry: Ecological Innovation, Sustainability and Ethics’, Environmental Values 28 (5). https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/ev/2019/00000028/00000005;jsessionid=g998lgmths883.x-ic-live-02
Applied Philosophy Articles
- Blok, V. and B. Gremmen. 2018. ‘Agricultural Technologies as Living Machines: Toward a Biomimetic Conceptualization of Smart Farming Technologies’. Ethics, Policy Environment, 21 (2), 246-263 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327626944_Agricultural_Technologies_as_Living_Machines_Toward_a_Biomimetic_Conceptualization_of_Smart_Farming_Technologies
- Dicks, H. 2018. ‘From Anthropomimetic to Biomimetic Cities: The Place of Humans in ‘Cities like Forests’’. Architecture Philosophy 3 (1): 91-106 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322854466_From_Anthropomimetic_to_Biomimetic_Cities_The_Place_of_Humans_in_Cities_like_Forests
- Dicks, H., Bertrand-Krajewski, J.L., et al. 2021. ‘Applying Biomimicry to Cities: The Forest as Model for Urban Planning and Design’. Technology and the City – Towards a Philosophy of Urban Technologies, Ed. M. Nagenborg, Springer: 271-288 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348767811_Applying_Biomimicry_to_Cities_The_Forest_as_Model_for_Urban_Planning_and_Design
Some Theory Articles
Below is a selection of the many articles, mostly written by practitioners of biomimicry, about the underlying “theory” of biomimicry, and which are relevant also to the philosophy of biomimicry.
- Fisch, M. 2017. ‘The Nature of Biomimicry: Toward a Novel Technological Culture’. Science, Technology, and Human Values 42 (5): 795-821 https://www.academia.edu/31622933/The_Nature_of_Biomimicry_Toward_a_Novel_Technological_Culture
- Goldstein, J. and Johnson, E. 2015. Biomimicry: New Natures, New Enclosures. Theory, Culture and Society, 32(1), 61-81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276414551032
- Hoeller, N. et al. 2007. ‘Developing a Common Ground for Learning from Nature’. Zygote Quarterly 7 http://issuu.com/eggermont/docs/zq_issue_07_final/134
- Hoeller, N., et al. 2016. ‘A Systems View of Bio-Inspiration: Bridging the Gaps’. INSIGHT 19 (1): 36–40: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294894518_A_Systems_View_of_Bioinspiration_Bridging_the_Gaps
- Kennedy, E. et al. 2015. ‘Biomimicry: A Path to Sustainable Innovation’, Design Issues 31: 66-73. https://direct.mit.edu/desi/article/31/3/66/69195/Biomimicry-A-Path-to-Sustainable-Innovation
- Marshall, A., Loveza, S. 2009. ‘Questioning the Theory and Practice of Biomimetics’, International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics 1 (4): 1-10 https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/dne-volumes/4/1/381
- MacKinnon, R., et al. ‘Promises and Presuppositions of Biomimicry’, Biomimetics 2020, 5(3), 33 https://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/5/3/33/htm
- Reap, J. et al. 2005. ‘Holism, Biomimicry and Sustainable Engineering’. ASME Proceedings: 423–31 https://cupdf.com/document/holism-biomimicry-and-sustainable-engineering-context-of-sustainable-engineering.html
- Speck, O, et al. 2017. ‘Biomimetic bio-inspired biomorph sustainable? An attempt to classify and clarify biology-derived technical developments’. Bioinspiration and Biomimetics 12 (1): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312876948_Biomimetic_bio-inspired_biomorph_sustainable_An_attempt_to_classify_and_clarify_biology-derived_technical_developments
- Vincent, J., et al. 2006. ‘Biomimetics: Its Theory and Practice’, J. R. Soc. Interface, 3, 471-482: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2006.0127
- Vincent, J., ‘Biomimetics – a review’, Journal of Engineering in Medicine 223(8), 2009: 919-939 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41110200_Biomimetics–a_review
- Wahl, D. 2006. ‘Bionics vs Biomimicry: from control of nature to sustainable participation in nature, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 87, 289 – 297 https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/wit-transactions-on-ecology-and-the-environment/87/16157
Biomimicry Links
If you’re new to biomimicry and would like to find out a bit more about it, here are some other useful links:
- Biomimicry Institute: https://biomimicry.org/
- Ask Nature: https://asknature.org/
- Bioinspiration & Biomimetics journal: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-3190
- Learn Biomimicry: https://www.learnbiomimicry.com/
- Biomimicry UK: https://www.bio-uk.org/
- CEEBIOS (French Biomimicry Centre): https://ceebios.com/
Books on Biomimicry
There haven’t yet been any books published, at least in English, on the philosophy of biomimicry (though I’m working on one). But there are quite a few popular science books that work well as introductions to the topic:
- Janine Benyus, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, New York: Harper Perennial, 1997.
- Ruth DeFries, What Would Nature Do?, New York: Columbia University Press, 2021.
- Peter Forbes, The Gecko’s Foot: Bio-inspiration – Engineered from Nature, London: Fourth Estate, 2005.
- Jay Harman, The Sharks Paintbrush: Biomimicry and how Nature is Inspiring Innovation, White Cloud Press, 2013.
- Veronika Kapsali, Biomimicry for Designers: Applying Nature’s Processes and Materials in the Real World, Thames and Hudson, 2016.
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Penguin, 2020
- Wes Jackson, Nature as Measure: The Selected Essays of Wes Jackson, Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2011
- Peter Miller, Smart Swarm: How Understanding Flocks, Schools and Colonies Can Make Us Better at Communicating, Decision Making and Getting Things Done, London: Harper Collins, 2010.
- Michael Pawlyn, Biomimicry in Architecture, London: RIBA, 2011.
- Steven Vogel, Cats’ Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People, New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.
- Daniel Wahl, Designing Regenerative Cultures, Triarchy Press, 2016.
Philosophy & Biomimicry 