Comparative biomechanics

Life's physical world

Steven Vogel

592 pages, parution le 26/09/2003

Ajouter à une liste

Indisponible

Résumé

Why do you shift from walking to running at a particular speed? How can we predict transition speeds for animals of different sizes? Why must the flexible elastic of arterial walls behave differently than a rubber tube or balloon? How do leaves manage to expose a broad expanse of surface while suffering only a small fraction of the drag of flags in high winds?

The field of biomechanics--how living things move and work--hasn't seen a new general textbook in more than two decades. Here a leading investigator and teacher lays out the key concepts of biomechanics using examples drawn from throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. Up-to-date and comprehensive, this is also the only book to give thorough coverage to both major subfields of biomechanics: fluid and solid mechanics.

Steven Vogel explains how biomechanics makes use of models and methods drawn from physics and mechanical engineering to investigate a wide range of general questions--from how animals swim and fly and the modes of terrestrial locomotion to the way organisms respond to wind and water currents and the operation of circulatory and suspension-feeding systems. He looks also at the relationships between the properties of biological materials--spider silk, jellyfish jelly, muscle, and more--and their various structural and functional roles.

While written primarily for biology majors and graduate students in biology, this text will be useful for physical scientists and engineers seeking a sense of the state of the art of biomechanics and a guide to its rather scattered literature. For a still wider audience, it establishes the basic biological context for such applied areas as ergonomics, orthopedics, mechanical prosthetics, kinesiology, sports medicine, and biomimetics.

Life's Physical Context
- Preambulations
- Setting the Stage
- Size and Scale
- More Tools
Fluids
- Gases and Liquids: Fluids at Rest
- Viscosity and the Patterns of Flow
- The Forces of Flow
- Fluid Events near Surfaces
- Where Flows Are Inside
- More about Circulatory Systems
- Flows in Small Worlds
- About Lift
- Thrust for Flying and Swimming
- Moving at the Air-Water Interface
Solids and Structures
- A Matter of Materials
- Biological Materials: Tuning Properties Properly
- More Complex Materials: Viscoelascity
- Simple Structures: Beams, Columns, Shells
- Less Simple Structural Matters
- Hydrostatic Structures
- Structural Systems
- Achieving Motility
- Using Muscle: Tuning and Transmissions
- Getting Around on Land
The Contexts of Biomechanics
- Loose Ends and Perspectives
List of Symbols
References and Index of Citations
Subject Index

L'auteur - Steven Vogel

Steven Vogel is James B. Duke Professor of Biology at Duke University. He is the author of Vital Circuits, Cats' Paws and Catapults and, from Princeton, Life in Moving Fluids and the prize-winning Life's Devices.

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Princeton University Press
Auteur(s)	Steven Vogel
Parution	26/09/2003
Nb. de pages	592
Format	21 x 26
Couverture	Relié
Poids	1600g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780691112978
ISBN13	978-0-691-11297-8