During the 1950s the American biophysicist and polymath Otto Schmitt developed the concept of "biomimetics",[1] he developed a physical device that mimicked the electrical action of a nerve in his doctoral research. Other words used include bionics (coined in 1960 by Jack Steele of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH), biomimicry and biognosis. The field of biomimetics is highly interdisciplinary. It involves the understanding of biological functions, structures and principles of various objects found in nature by biologists, physicists, chemists and material scientists, and the design and fabrication of various materials and devices of commercial interest by engineers, material scientists, chemists and others.[2]
Emerging field of biomimetics allows one to mimic biology or nature to develop nanomaterials, nanodevices and processes.[2] —— Bhushan Bharat
Traditionally, biomimetics inspired by biological structures and their functions, focused on emulating or duplicating biosystems using mostly synthetic components and following traditional approaches[3-5].
—— Mann and Sarikaya
Biomimetics (which we here mean to be synonymous with ‘biomimesis’, ‘biomimicry’, ‘bionics’, ‘biognosis’, ‘biologically inspired design’ and similar words and phrases implying copying or adaptation or derivation from biology) was a relatively young study embracing the practical use of mechanisms and functions of biological science in engineering, design, chemistry, electronics, and so on.[6]
Biomimetics was the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems.[7]
—— Vincent
[2] Bhushan B. Introduction: Biomimetics: Lessons from Nature An Overview. Philosophical Transactions, 367 (1893): 1445 (2009).
[4] Sarikaya, M. & Aksay, I. A. Biomimetics: Design & Processing of Materials. American Institute of Physics, New York (1995).
[6] Vincent J F, Bogatyreva O A, Bogatyrev N R, et al. Biomimetics: its practice and theory. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 3 (9): 471 (2006).
[7] Vincent, Julian F. V. Biomimetics: its practice and theory. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 3 (9): 471 (2006).