About the Book

This book is devoted to the rapidly growing area of science dealing with structure and properties of biological surfaces in their relation to particular functions. This volume, written by a team of specialists from different disciplines, covers various biological surface functions: sensing, coloration, attachment, drag reduction, moisture harvesting, etc. Because biological surfaces have a virtually endless potential of technological ideas for the development of new materials and systems, inspirations from biology could also be interesting for a broad range of topics in surface engineering. This volume together with two previous volumes "Functional Surfaces in Biology" (vols. 1 & 2 published in 2009) taken together, present a good reference for a novice in the field. The book is intended for use by researchers who are active, or intend to become active, in the field. The appeal of this topic is expected to be broad, ranging from classical biology, biomechanics and physics to such applied fields as materials science and surface engineering.

About the Author: Prof. Dr. Stanislav Gorb: Stanislav Gorb is professor and director at the Zoological Institute of the Kiel University, Germany. He received his PhD degree in zoology and entomology at the Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kiev (Ukraine). Stanislav Gorb was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna (Austria), a research assistant at University of Jena, a group leader at the Max Planck Institutes for Developmental Biology in Tübingen and for Metals Research in Stuttgart (Germany). Gorb's research focuses on morphology, structure, biomechanics, physiology, and evolution of surface-related functional systems in animals and plants, as well as the development of biologically inspired technological surfaces and systems. He received the Schlossmann Award in Biology and Materials Science in 1995, International Forum Design Gold Award in 2011 and Materialica "Best of" Award in 2011. In 1998, he was the BioFuture Competition winner for his works on biological attachment devices as possible sources for biomimetics. Stanislav Gorb is Corresponding member of Academy of the Science and Literature Mainz, Germany (since 2010) and Member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany (since 2011). He has authored several books, more than 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and four patents.

Dr. Elena Gorb: Elena Gorb is assistant professor at the Zoological Institute of the Kiel University, Germany. She graduated from the Kiev University (Ukraine) with the diploma in biology - zoology and botany. She received her PhD degree in biology (botany) from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev. Elena Gorb was an assistant professor at the Department of Botany of the Biological Faculty at the Kiev University, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen (Germany), Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart (Germany), and Zoological Institute of the Kiel University. Her research interests are in the fields of insect-plant interactions, plant morphology and biomechanics, insect biomechanics, biomimetics, and ecology of seed dispersal. Elena Gorb has published one book, 7 book chapters and more than 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals.