A Practical Guide to Vertebrate Mechanics

Christopher McGowan (Royal Ontario Museum)

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English

Cambridge University Press
05 July 1999

Physiology; Zoology & animal sciences; Animal physiology; Zoology: Vertebrates

A thorough understanding of the form, function, and design of animals is essential to any working biologist's knowledge. In the author's view, however, this fast-growing field of study can be made much more exciting and accessible with a hands-on, practical approach. This is the view of A Practical Guide to Vertebrate Mechanics. This text can be considered an engineering book for biologists. The emphasis is on vertebrates, and each topic begins with a discussion of the underlying principles, followed immediately by practical experiments and laboratory exercises. First we begin with a refresher on scaling and measurement. This is followed by three chapters on the mechanical properties of materials - investigating elasticity, the strength of materials, and how things break. This leads our discussion to animal materials - bones, joints, muscles - which serve to illustrate principles of structure and load, lubrication, physiology, metabolism, and stamina. Finally, we put the systems in motion, as we discuss terrestrial locomotion, flight, and swimming. What sets this book apart from others on functional anatomy is the emphasis on practical work. Many of the experiments are simple to conduct. Detailed instructions for setting up the experiments are given in an appendix, and sample results are included to guide the student. A Practical Guide to Vertebrate Mechanics will form an important part of undergraduate and beginning graduate courses for zoology, anatomy, biomechanics, and paleontology students.

By: Christopher McGowan (Royal Ontario Museum)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 261mm, Width: 182mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 845g
ISBN: 9780521571944
ISBN 10: 0521571944
Pages: 316
Publication Date: 05 July 1999
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface; Introduction; 1. A matter of scale; 2. Elasticity; 3. Measuring the strengths of materials; 4. How things break; 5. Bone as a composite material; 6. Structures and loads; 7. Engineering a skeleton; 8. Friction, lubrication and joints; 9. Muscles: the driving force of skeletons; 10. Terrestrial locomotion; 11. Fluid flow; 12. Flight and flying; 13. Swimming and swimmers; Appendix: chapter notes and responses to questions; References; Index.

Reviews for A Practical Guide to Vertebrate Mechanics

' … this book will be very useful for lecturers and students in zoology, anatomy, physiology, and palaeontology with interest in kinetic activity of vertebrates.' H. Petry, Institut für Physiologie, Physiologische Chemie und Tierernährung