Inventors, scientists, and engineers—where do they get all their ideas for new products and devices? You may be surprised at how many of the items you use daily had their origins in God’s design in nature. In their new book, Made in Heaven, Man’s Indiscriminate Stealing of God’s Amazing Design, released last October by Master Books, authors Ray Comfort and Jeffrey Seto share more than 30 examples of how man has used, or is studying, God’s design to find help for new inventions. This hardback, full-color book is filled with stunning photography, yet retails for the reasonable price of only $15.99.

Many of us are aware of Kevlar® the material frequently used in bullet-proof vests, but did you know scientists are working on something even stronger and more flexible? They are studying the scales of the arapaima fish that lives in the Amazon basin in South America. I had only heard of the arapaima fish the week before I received the book for review. My daughter had watched a TV show about it with Dad a month or so before, and chose the arapaima as her fish to study for science that week. Her report was my first introduction to the amazing design of the arapaima. She loved the section of “Made in Heaven” about her new favorite fish. Seeing a picture of the actual fish made me realize what a great job she had done in drawing it and describing it for her report.

I would recommend this book for families to read together as it is filled with fascinating 2-page layouts about 32 different attributes from nature that man either has studied, or is studying, to try to improve our everyday lives. Truly, God the Creator shows His handiwork when we look for it. If your children are Junior High aged or older, they will enjoy reading this book by themselves, but be prepared for a lot of, “Hey Mom, guess what?!” moments. At just over 70 pages, this book could be an inspiring gift for a student who struggles with science. Besides the text, each layout includes at least one photograph, and usually also includes either a line drawing (illustration) or chart to help further explain or reinforce the concept learned from nature. This helps make science fascinating without making the technical parts of the book overwhelming.

If your family enjoys a unit study approach to learning science, this book could be a great resource to help you decide what to study next. The range of different plants and animals discussed in the book should have something to appeal to almost everyone. Have you studied termites recently? Did you know there are buildings in London, England and Harare, Zimbabwe that use technology designed after termites’ nests for heating and cooling? Did you know Velcro® was made after a Swiss engineer noticed burrs on his dog... in the 1940’s!?!

In what may perhaps become your children’s favorite section of the book, the authors describe how scientists are studying their own pet geckos’ feet to design a robot that can scale glass walls. Know what your kids will say . . . ”Hey Mom, I think we should get (insert your gecko’s name here) a friend and help them study!”

Just this week, I was able to help our daughter understand how mussels stay stuck together in groups and stay stuck to rocks thanks to the section about ‘Mussels with strong muscle-sticking power.’ The one section that seemed most difficult to understand to me was about the reflection of a cat’s eye. This section talks about how scientists studied the properties of cat’s eyes to make the road reflectors we often see down the middle of highways today. There is a picture of a Catseye ™ reflector from the UK, and truthfully, it didn’t make sense to me at first because it is a picture taken in the daytime, and they do not look anything like the reflectors we have near us. Thankfully, next to it is a picture from the USA of road reflectors. Once I saw that picture, the section made more sense.

One of the main focuses of the book is on pointing people towards a greater understanding of our magnificent Creator. In grasping the natural design behind the science, the authors are allowing us to praise God and understand how fearfully and wonderfully made our world is. Once you start reading this book, you will be looking around your world trying to connect the dots, between what God originally made, and what we have modified for our daily lives. Each day can bring new discoveries and inspiration. Enjoy the journey!

Product Review by Carol Emmert, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March, 2013