Progress in study on constructal theory and its applications

The emergence and development of constructal theory, which has been a new discipline branch to research sorts of structures in nature and engineering, are reviewed. The core of the constructal theory is that various shapes and structures of the matters in nature are generated from the tendency to obtain optimal performance. Constructal theory and its application are summarized, from disciplines such as heat, mechanism, fluid flow, electricity, magnetism and chemistry, to life and non-life systems in nature.