There is no basic text book for the course due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topics covered. Course handouts, suggested reading, and presentations from invited guest speakers cover most lecture topics. The following is a list of suggested readings and reference texts for the course.
Pellegrino, S., eds. Deployable Structures. New York, NY: Springer, 2002. ISBN: 9783211836859.
Vincent, J. F. V. "Stealing Ideas from Nature." Chapter 3 in Deployable Structures. Edited by S. Pellegrino. New York, NY: Springer, 2002. ISBN: 9783211836859.
Ashby, Michael F. Materials Selection in Mechanical Design. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005. ISBN: 9780750661683.
Jones, Robert. Mechanics of Composite Materials. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1975. ISBN: 9780070327900.
O'Neill, John P. Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomical Drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle. New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984.
Slocik, J. M., M. R. Knecht, and D. W. Wright. "Biomimetic Synthesis of Nanoparticles." In Encylopedia of Inorganic Chemistry. Edited by R. Bruce King. New York, NY: John Wiley, 2005, pp. 371-391. ISBN: 9780470860786.
Gere, James, and Stephen Timoshenko. Mechanics of Materials. 4th ed. Boston, MA: PWS Publishing, 1996. ISBN: 9780534951023.
Ashby, Michael, and Kara Johnson. Materials and Design. Boston, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002. ISBN: 9780750655545.
Gibson, Lorna J., and Michael F. Ashby. Cellular Solids: Structure and Properties. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780521499118.
Ashby, Michael F., et al. Metal Foams: A Design Guide. Boston, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000. ISBN: 9780750672191.