The textbook describes how organisms construct materials from limited components, arrange materials into efficient structures that withstand different types of stresses, and interact mechanically with their environment. Looking at practical and historical aspects of the subject, the book delves into how the mechanics of organisms might be applied to other engineering scenarios and considers the ways structural biomechanics could and should develop in the future if more is to be learned about the form and function of organisms. Solid Biomechanics will be useful to all those interested in how organisms work, from biologists and engineers to physicists and students of biomechanics, bionics, and materials science.
- The first comprehensive review of the structural mechanics of organisms
- Introduces the subject using a physical approach involving minimal mathematics
- Three complementary sections: materials, structures, and mechanical interactions of organisms
- Links the dazzling array of mechanical adaptations seen in widely differing organisms
- Practical and historical approach shows how mechanical adaptations have been discovered and how readers can perform their own investigations