The author has long speculated that the prevalence of helical structures in botany and zoology hints to an optimized pathway for force and/or energy transfer. His goal has been to realize an alternative approach to the standard stress analysis used in engineering in order to more efficiently and accurately deal with biological materials. Improved tools for these natural materials should in turn aid the design and analysis of engineered materials.

Following the role of a navigator in L. C. Levesque's book Breakthrough Creativity, the author typically searches for ideas in a variety of places, including physics, materials science, biomimetics, dimensional analysis, etc., and attempts to link seemingly disconnected pieces of information into a consistent cognitive framework. In this document he presents his ideas for unit maps, which allow systematic searches to be made for innovative concepts in science and engineering, and unit mechanics, which helps to classify concepts that span multiple levels of structural hierarchy and spatial dimension. As an example, he explores the concept of force per time or force flow, where photons follow helical paths through a material's structure. He also presents the concept of close-packed helices in crystal lattices.

On the experimental side, the author gives attention to flexible, spatially-scalable probe tests, such as hardness, instrumented indentation, and a simple, qualitative form of integrated photoelasticity. He puts forth his ideas on property mapping of botanical materials and, in particular, preliminary results for shortleaf pine.