Daily Devotional – June 22

Design

Golf balls made during the 1800s were made with a smooth surface. It seemed logical that the smoother the ball, the farther it flies. At some point, golfers noticed that older balls covered with nicks and grooves seemed to fly farther. By the 1930s, the standard golf ball was covered with dimples. Just as golf balls are designed with “dimples,” so is shark skin.

Shark’s skin is made of tough, enameled, tooth-like scales called denticles that point in the direction of the tail. When running your hand over a shark’s skin, toward the tail, the skin will feel smooth. When running your hand in the opposite direction, the shark’s skin feels like rough sandpaper. In the past, shark skin was even used as sandpaper.

To swim faster, a shark bristles with its denticles, causing tiny whirlpools to form within the cavities between the denticles. These tiny vortices reduce the drag. This same design can be observed with dimples on a golf ball. As the dimpled golf ball flies through the air, tiny whirlpools are created, reducing drag. Golf balls are made with dimples to create less drag in the same way the shark skin with its “dimples” was designed.

Would we say a golf ball happened by chance? Hardly! Neither can we assume the shark’s skin made itself. God created and designed the shark’s skin to maximize its speed.

So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

~ Psalm 104:25

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.