changes in understanding, knowledge reporting. Having these in mind from the Book Review

of, or engagement with the subject mat- onset of project development can also

The Design of Life's

ter (Box 1). Guidance on performance better ensure that projects proceed

assessment can be sought from other according to measurable goals and that Interactions:

fields (e.g., informal science learning) that meeting project goals yields intended out-

explore the role that the arts have in comes. Other added benefits, such as Biomechanics as a

science learning outside of the classroom further conceptualization of arts–science

Key Tool in Ecology

[5,14]. Some work suggests that it is collaborations, could bolster an already

helpful to engage professional evaluators flourishing field. and Evolutionary

who have training in education research Biology

or the social sciences and experience

Appendix A Supplemental Information

1,

assessing arts-based or arts-science Supplemental Information associated with this article

Anthony Herrel *

projects [15]. can be found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.

org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.06.004.

Consideration should be given to develop- 1

Tulane-Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research,

ing a common reporting platform for data

Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA

2

and metadata on project outcomes and A Studio In The Woods, Tulane University, New Orleans,

LA 70118, USA

assessment. This process can be informed 3

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Tulane

by examples of well-articulated arts-based

University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA

science communication projects sup-

*Correspondence: [email protected] (A.E. Lesen).

ported by research and evaluation. One

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.06.004

example is the climate science-based play,

The Great Immensity, created by the New References

York-based theater group The Civilians, 1. Smith, B. et al. (2013) COMPASS: navigating the rules of

scientific engagement. PLoS Biol. 11, e1001552

which debuted in Kansas City in 2012

2. Root-Bernstein, R.S. et al. (2011) ArtScience: Integrative

[11]. Scientists were engaged as collabo- collaboration to create a sustainable future. Leonardo 44,

192

rators as the play was developed, the

3. Schwartz, B. (2014) Communicating science through the

theater company worked with a

performing arts. Interdisc. Sci. Rev. 39, 275–289

professional evaluator to assess the out- 4. Allen, P. et al. (2014) Culture Shift: How Artists Are

Responding to Sustainability in Wales. Arts Wales

comes of the play, audience engagement

5. Friedman, A.J. (2013) Reflections on communicating sci-

was incorporated into the performance

ence through art. Curator 56, 3–10

and assessment, and the evaluation report 6. Scheffer, M. et al. (2015) Dual thinking for scientists. Ecol-

ogy and Society 20, 3

is publicly available through The Center for

7. Evans, E. (2014) How green is my valley? The art of getting

Advancement of Informal Science Educa-

people in Wales to care about climate change. J Crit.

–

tion (www.informalscience.org/great- Realism 13, 304 325 2015 and 2016 were sad years for the field

8. Swanson, F.J. (2015) Confluence of arts, humanities, and

immensity-conveying-science-through- of biomechanics as they saw the passing

science at sites of long-term ecological inquiry. Ecosphere

fi

performing-arts-assessment). Although 6, 1–23 of two giants in the eld, Steven Vogel and

carrying out rigorous and lasting evaluation 9. Thomsen, D.C. (2015) Seeing is questioning: prompting Robert McNeill Alexander. Despite their

sustainability discourses through an evocative visual

can be challenging in some circumstances very different research programs both

agenda. Ecology and Society 20, 4

(e.g., long-term projects or projects with 10. Castree, N. et al. (2014) Changing the intellectual climate. were exceptionally gifted in transmitting

Nature Climate Change 4, 763–768

wide-ranging goals), and although many their science to the general public by ren-

11. Wasserman, S. and Young, M.F. (2013) The Great Immen-

do not have the resources necessary to dering complex problems simple and by

sity: a theatrical approach to climate change. Curator 56,

–

carry out a project like The Great Immen- 79 86 using everyday examples to illustrate the

12. Ntalla, I. (2013) Engaging audiences on ongoing social

sity (which was funded by the National principles at work in nature [1–3]. Mark

debates through interactive and immersive exhibits. Int.

Science Foundation), it remains a useful J. Incl. Museum 6, 105–116 Denny follows in the footsteps of these

case study for communities of research- 13. Dowell, E. and Weitkamp, E. (2012) An exploration of the exceptional scholars and with his book

collaborative processes of making theatre inspired by sci-

ers and practitioners to gauge how to Ecological Mechanics tries to explain

ence. Public Underst. Sci. 21, 891–901

frame, develop, carry out, and evaluate 14. Mamykina, L. et al. (2002) Collaborative creativity. Comm. how biomechanics can be used to gain

ACM 45, 96–99

their endeavors. Addressing several con- understanding in ecology. Although his

15. Friedman, A.J. (ed.) (2008) Framework for Evaluating

siderations central to project develop- target audience is clearly different (upper-

Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects, National

ment and execution (Box 1) can provide Science Foundation level Masters and PhD students), he also

additional guidance for assessment and tries to demonstrate how complex

660 Trends in Ecology & Evolution, September 2016, Vol. 31, No. 9

Ecological Mechanics: Principles of Life's Physical

problems in ecology can be tackled under repeated loads can help explain the

Interactions by Mark Denny, Princeton University Press,

through the use of mechanics. Denny behavioral strategies observed in crabs,

2016. US$79.95/£59.95, hbk (503 pp.) ISBN 978-0-691-

has his own unique style that often finds birds, fish, and lizards that eat hard or 16315-4

inspiration in questions related to his spe- tough food items. By loading the shell or 1

UMR 7179 CNRS/MNHN, Département d’Ecologie et de

cialty, the ecology and mechanics of wave- nut repeatedly at values much lower than

Gestion de la Biodiversité, 55 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris,

swept shore environments. The many orig- those needed to break the object, crack France

inal examples focusing on aquatic inverte- propagation resulting from stress concen-

*Correspondence: [email protected] (A. Herrel).

brates and plants make this book different tration leads to failure. Similarly, Denny

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.06.005

from most other books in the field [1–5]. demonstrates how an understanding of

fluid mechanics, especially flow at low Rey- References

1. Vogel, S. (1988) Life's Devices: The Physical World of Ani-

Denny uses first principles derived from nolds number, can help us understand

mals and Plants, Princeton University Press

the mechanics of the essential building sensory ecology in many invertebrates

2. Vogel, S. (2013) Comparative Biomechanics: Life's Physical

World, Princeton University Press

blocks of nature, atoms and molecules, and even the predator–prey dynamics

3. Alexander, R.McN. (2006) Principles of Animal Locomotion,

to explain concepts ranging from fluid between crickets and wolf spiders. Wolf

Princeton University Press

dynamics to the fracture mechanics of spiders clearly know their fluid dynamics

4. Niklas, K.J. and Spatz, H-C. (2012) Plant Physics, University

of Chicago Press

composite materials. He goes on to pro- and adapt their behavior to prevent the

5. Biewener, A.A. (2003) Animal Locomotion, Oxford University

vide examples of how an ecomechanics generation of bow waves that stimulate

Press

approach can be used to tackle real-world the sensory hairs on the cricket abdomen.

6. Gould, S.J. and Lewontin, R.C. (1979) The spandrels of San

Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the

problems in ecology. Although extremely That an understanding of mechanics can

adaptationist programme. Proc. Biol. Sci. 205, 581–598

enticing and intuitively pleasing for the also have far-reaching applications in con-

7. Arnold, S.J. (1983) Morphology, performance and fitness.

engineers that we humans are, this servation biology is nicely illustrated by Am. Zool. 23, 347–361

8. Angiletta, M.J., Jr (2009) Thermal Adaptation: A Theoretical

approach quickly risks entering into the Denny's review of thermal mechanics. At

and Empirical Synthesis, Oxford University Press

fallacy of a perfectly adapted world [6]. the end of the chapter he explains how

In nature, selection can work only with thermal mechanics can provide insights

the building blocks available, within the into current and future spatial distributions

design limits set largely by Newtonian of plants and animals through environmen-

Book Review

mechanics. So the approach is at its most tal niche modeling (see also [8] for an excel-

useful and interesting in setting the bound- lent synthesis on the subject). Soil and Society

aries and limits of organismal design. 1,

Wim H. van der Putten *

When applied properly, a mechanical or The final part of the book is where the

engineering approach can give powerful reading really becomes fun and exciting

and unique insights into the design of as Denny starts tackling general ecological

organisms, the interactions between problems through the use of mechanical

them, and even problems of community and engineering theory. Denny starts with

ecology as argued cogently by Denny. scale transition theory, moves on to spec-

However, the one pitfall of this approach tral analysis and the effects of scale, and

is that selection does not act on the build- ends with the biology of extremes and

ing blocks themselves but rather on the pattern and self-organization. These

function of the organism as a whole [7]. chapters are extremely insightful and push

Denny is clearly aware of these limitations the reader to think more broadly about

and often explicitly states them at the end how, for example, environmental variation

of a chapter. For example, the shapes of structures the lives of organisms and their

corals often depart from the optimal survival. The summary in chapter 24 is

shapes predicted by mechanics as the exceptionally lucid. Readers that only read

‘truly optimal shape is that which best these pages will have already have learned

serves all an organism's needs’ (p. 340). a lot and will be incited to return to previ-

ous chapters to learn more about the

Despite these caveats Denny nicely illus- topics they find most interesting.

trates how an understanding of the princi-

ples of mechanics can have far- Overall, an excellent read and a highly

reaching implications. For example, an original contribution to the fields of biome-

understanding of the mechanics of fracture chanics and ecology.

Trends in Ecology & Evolution, September 2016, Vol. 31, No. 9 661