Biodynamics

This book is a continuation ofmy Biomechanics.The first volume deals with the mechanical properties of living tissues. The present volume deals with the mechanics ofcirculation. A third volume willdeal with respiration, fluid balance, locomotion, growth, and strength. This volume is called Bio- dynamics in order to distinguish it from the first volume. The same style is followed. My objective is to present the mechanical aspects ofphysiology in precise terms ofmechanics so that the subject can become as lucid as physics. The motivation of writing this series of books is, as I have said in the preface to the first volume, to bring biomechanics to students ofbioengineer- ing, physiology, medicine, and mechanics. I have long felt a need for a set of books that willinform the students ofthe physiological and medical applica- tions ofbiomechanics,and at the same time develop their training in mechan- ics. In writing these books I have assumed that the reader already has some basic training in mechanics, to a level about equivalent to the first seven chapters of my First Course in Continuum Mechanics (Prentice Hall, 1977). The subject is then presented from the point of view of life science while mechanics is developed through a sequence of problems and examples. The main text reads like physiology, while the exercises are planned like a mechanics textbook.The instructor may filla dual role :teaching an essential branch of life science, and gradually developing the student's knowledge in mechanics.