“At the core of any engineering task is the fundamental and unassailable belief that a solution is possible.”

For me, that solution is invariably one in which simplicity and form come together to create an answer which upon reflection becomes self-evident in its design and function. This rule of always finding “simpler solutions” constantly influences my selection of one modality over the spectrum of optional alternatives.

Problem Solving: The Fundamental Search for System Behaviors

My approach to problem-solving is anchored in a relentless search to identify the fundamental rules that govern the behavior of the system I am investigating. The interpretation of the specific subject matter, be it magnetic navigation, medicating apparatus, tumor dispensing reservoirs, or biosensors, always leads me to the realm of aesthetical considerations. Symmetry, as well as signs of isotropic and anisotropic indications within the dynamics of the subject matter, is just part of this search. Such investigation allows me to identify the causal relationship that forms the symmetry or equilibrium observed within the system. Morphology, Geometry, and the Rate of Change (Dx/Dt) of the process investigated to account for the essential elements that drive that the engine of a system.

Anchors in the Ocean

D’Arcy Thompson

D’Arcy Thompson’s “On Growth and Form”, with its oceanic figures, and Wittgenstein’s “Philosophical Investigations”, with its tightly focused approach to natural or mathematical observations, are the main influences that form my intellectual tool-set. These are the basis upon which my worldview on how to approach a solution to any engineering problem is formed.

Large engineering projects are complex projects which cannot be resolved without the help of a regulator, or a heuristic -“Deus ex machina” approach that enables the creation of a theory of operation, or some semblance of the causal relation, between the input and output of the “black box”. Mechanical time contraptions like clocks, which by natural motion alone indicate equal divisions of time, cannot exist unless an escapement is added to the clock which converts its continuous rotational motion into an oscillating or back and forth motion.

Formalism and Clarity

Curiosity is a prerequisite for the journey of any natural scientist. The methodology by which their work is enabled is their ability to reduce that which they observe to a language from which a new clarity of the framework can emerge; such as when a formal representation is created to describe the observed. The importance of this approach to clarity by the reductive method can be seen in the work and teachings of Rudolf Carnap. This is most notably seen in his book, “The Logical Syntax of Language”, which I had the honor of presenting as my thesis to the University Of Haifa in 1980. My enthusiasm to employ the techniques of Carnap was modified by the sobering temperament of D’Arcy Thompson’s approach to natural science.

Curiosity is a prerequisite for the journey of any natural scientist.

Morphology and Functionality

The basic and leading principle for analyzing or forming a theory about any natural process is the ability of the observer to relate the morphological as well as functional links governing that process in a way that can form a synthetic, or posterior judgment, on the necessity of the relationship detected. Such observation can show how form and function do indicate some historical necessity, as well as coherence, between, for example, the geometry of the bottom feeders in the ocean and the hydrostatic efficiency of the structure of shells.
Sometimes an accidental relationship is observed in a species that can be easily be classified as “redundant” or ornamental in that living entity, but upon careful consideration will show the historical nature of such features to be instrumental in the survival of that species.

Historic Necessity and Accidental Attributes

Our duty as observers is to uncover the essential, as well as the historic connections, that form the specific process or mechanism which enables the functionality of a system. Connections like these can be observed in a pump or the characteristics of magnetic waveforms. My encounter with D’Arcy’s insights, which showed the fundamental relation between morphology and function, is the basis for my work. My acquaintance with D’Arcy’s text should be categorized as a “methodological tool” since this creative process is not just a commentary on a specific observation of a particular phenomenon, but a general formula or framework for the natural scientist’s ability to uncover the governing principles of any system.

D’Arcy taught me the fundamental attitude that the observer needs to assume, and the proper state of mind when uncovering the behavior of a process and its physical attributes.

Manifestation or Hard Work

Over the years I have written and published many of my observations on a variety of topics including, Magnetic Control, The Shaping of Magnetic Wave-Front while Employing Quantum Mechanical Formalism to Support Maxwell Canonical Representation, Pumps with Biological Structure Simulating Sea Urchin Duty Cycle while Substituting Piezoelectric Tendon for Muscle Like Behavior, and Biosensors Formed out of Sio2 Substrate with Analog/Aptamer Segment of RNA to Detect Tumor Markers or Hybridization of Salmonella. If any biographical notes are needed to understand my motivation or the subsequent results as exemplified by my writings, all of the above are the result of careful observations using D’Arcy’s methodology.

Medical technologies that can emulate the efficiency of living colonies were best described and addressed by the limited words and notes following D’Arcy’s book Growth and Form. First published in 1917, this book is D’Arcy’s radical departure from standard zoology. Looking outside the scope of comparative morphology and evolution, he sought to study nature from a mathematical perspective. He looked to both ancient as well as modern texts to put together his observations on the development of the form and structure in all living things. The resulting text is a poetic treatise dedicated to the wonders of nature. What makes his observations so rich are his careful considerations and blending of philosophy and natural observations. The great German philosopher Immanuel Kant declared, “The criterion of true science is in its relation to mathematics.” Adds D’Arcy, ‘‘Numerical precision is the very soul of science.’’

Yet D’Arcy is very careful to point out that he has no interest in reducing the wonders and mystery of the living body to a mechanism or a mathematical formula. He remains an individual who is impressed by the beauty manifested in adaptation in all creatures, whether it is the flower for the bee or the berry for the bird. He maintains that inquiry into the way in which both living things and physical phenomena grow and take on a specific shape should be approached in the spirit of both scientific theory and mystery. D’Arcy describes his objective in writing the work as follows, “We want to see how… the forms of living things, of the parts of living things, can be explained by physical considerations and to realize that in general no organic forms exist save such as are in conformity with physical and mathematical laws.
These ideas have found application in the conceptualization and design of the many medical and other technologies which I have endeavored to create.”

-Josh Shachar