Exploring biomechanics

Flying squirrels, snakes, hummingbirds, squid... These and many other members of the animal kingdom intrigue us by the distinctive ways in which they move. Scientists have learned much about the ways living things travel across the land, sea, and sky by applying to animal motion the same physical laws that govern the workings of machinery. In Exploring Biomechanics, R. McNeill Alexander combines zoology and physics to show how even the most puzzling methods of locomotion can be understood, at least in part, by applying basic principles of classical mechanics and engineering. Remarkably thorough in its coverage, Exploring Biomechanics examines the entire range of animal movements. Beginning with humans and other complex animals and ending with single-celled organisms, the book describes and illustrates how animals walk, run, and jump; crawl and climb; soar and fly; float and swim. Are insects crawling on the underside of leaves defying gravity? Are fleas really nature's premier jumpers? Can a running cheetah reach 70 miles per hour? Do flying squirrels and lizards actually fly? The answers to these and many other questions lie ahead in this volume. The range and speed of movement in all complex animals are governed by muscles. Exploring Biomechanics begins with an overview of muscle physiology that explains the relation between energy costs and the ability to do work and exert force. Subsequent chapters examine in detail the specific ways animals travel, as Professor Alexander demonstrates how body structure and patterns of movement are adapted to produce the most energy-efficient performance possible. These chapters offer dozens of examples of animals in motion, describing ofteningenious experiments that reveal--among other things--how human walking differs from all other forms of animal walking; how insects adhere to surfaces; how the flight of birds is analogous to that of helicopters rather than airplanes; how ducks, penguins, squid, dolphins, trout, and eels exemplify different forms of swimming; and how amoebas "walk" by extending their pseudopods.