Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages
- Published by: Princeton University Press December 1, 1988
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0691024189
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0691024189
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Book Dimensions:
9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
- Weighs: 1.2 pounds
Reader Reviews
One of the most readable biology books I've ever come across. While it can easily be used for an undergraduate course in animal physiology and evolution, Vogel's text is humorous, (obscure references, funny quotes, and puns abound, adding to the text rather than detracting from it), but also covers a wide range of topics with clear explainations. The chapters are well structured and the table of contents suggests some of the more interesting highlights: why an ant might bite but can't hit, reinflating squid, plumbing the common features of the pipes within organisms, etc. While there is a strong emphasis on fluids in biology, (the author's specialty), it's an amazingly readable, well-written, and informative book on the entire subject of the physical constraints on animals for the interested laymen or undergrad. Table of contents: Constraints & Oppertunities, A Variety of Variables, Size & Shape, Dimensions Gradiaents & Summations, Gases & Liquids, Viscosity & Flow, Pressure & Flow, Diffussion vs Convection, A Matter of Materials, Arranging Structures, Insinuations About Curves, Systems of Support, Mechanics of Mobility, Staying Put & Getting Away, Energy & Afterthoughts. Also has an extensive and well-prepared bibliography, a great jumping off point for further adventures in the field.
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