Adrian Bejan

design nature chance flow

"The designs we see in nature are not the result of chance. They rise naturally, spontaneously, because they enhance access to flow."

— Adrian Bejan

serendipity discovery accident sagacity knowledge creativity

"Serendipity is the way to make discoveries, by accident but also by sagacity, of things one is not in quest of. Based on experience, knowledge, it is the creative exploitation of the unforeseen."

— Adrian Bejan

flow system feature current design

"Flow systems have two basic features (properties). There is the current that is flowing (for example, fluid, heat, mass, or information) and the design through which it flows."

— Adrian Bejan

finite-size system persist evolve access current flow

"For a finite-size system to persist in time (to live), it must evolve in such a way that it provides easier access to the imposed currents that flow through it."

— Adrian Bejan

earth solar input heatmaximum power dissipate

"The Earth with its solar heat input, heat rejection, and wheels of atmospheric and oceanic circulation, is a heat engine without a shaft. Its maximized mechanical power cannot be delivered, but is instead destined to dissipate through air and water friction and other forms of heat loss. It produces maximum power, which it then dissipates at a maximum rate."

— Adrian Bejan