Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 582 pages
- Published by: Princeton University Press August 4, 2003
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0691112975
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0691112978
-
Book Dimensions:
10.1 x 8 x 1.5 inches
- Weighs: 3.4 pounds
Julian F. V. Vincent , Science
The volume has so many little gems scattered throughout that my eye got caught by the glitter and couldn't escape.
Product Review
Personal anecdotes connect the material to the happenings of everyday life, creating a book that will be well received and remembered by students. Nearly every example is accessible to common experience and easy to comprehend. . . . Excellent, clean line diagrams illustrate nearly every important concept. Each chapter begins with an eclectic and often amusing quotation drawn or paraphrased from the experiences of the author. This typifies the familiar style brought forward in this important and timely work, which will surely become the book of choice for courses in comparative biomechanics.
(
Choice )
A delightful and comprehensive textbook that is perfect for undergraduates and those of us who need a refresher. . . . Throughout the book, Vogel introduces the formulae and principles that matter in a cleat manner, and illustrates them with a dizzying array of biological and physical examples. . . . [T]his book is awesome fun to read. Vogel writes with an effervescent sense of delight in his subject. The text is laced with wit and humor, and sprinkled with eclectic examples of nature's many marvels. None of the fun, however, diminishes the clarity.
(
Daniel E. Lieberman Nature )
I tried skim-reading Steven Vogel's
Comparative Biomechanics . . . but was compromised: the volume has so many little gems scattered throughout that my eye got caught by the glitter and couldn't escape. In earlier books, Vogel introduced biomechanics piecemeal. Now he has written an integrated textbook on the subject.
(
Julian F. V. Vincent Science )
[Vogel] is that rare animal, a biologist who is at once fluent in mathematics, conversant with physics and physical chemistry, and an accomplished practical engineer. More than that, the quality of Vogel's writing allows him to convey complex ideas clearly and make them so accessible that his books are hard to put down.
(
H.C. Bennet-Clark Bioscience )
Science books are generally read for three reasons: it is assigned, it provides an introduction to an unfamiliar field, or because it is a truly enjoyable read. Great science books meet all three. . . . With
Comparative Biomechanics, Vogel has now produced a book that meets all three criteria of a great science book.
(
Scott Turner Quarterly Review of Biology )
Reader Reviews
This book would be a fantastic text for an introductory physics class, eg, mechanics classes aimed at future doctors. It begins with the "simple" problem of walking, which can be understood as an oscillation, with the frequency tuned to the length of your legs. From there, the book proceeds to dimensional analysis, and treats the biomechanical universe as a set of simple tubes, surfaces, flows, beams, and levers, all amenable to simple calculation and estimation. This book contains more real, relevant physics than any introductory physics text (with the possible exception of the Feynman lectures, which are totally unsuited for first-year students). It is the best physics textbook we know. (Review co-written by Dr Sanjoy Mahajan, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge).
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