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Skeletal muscle mechanics: from mechanisms to function
Journal of Biomechanics 34 (2001) 1223
Book review Skeletal muscle mechanics: from mechanisms to function Walter Herzog (Ed.); Wiley, Ltd 1 Oldlands Way, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO22 9SA, England, 2000, p. 554 Price $ 165.00 ISBN 0-471-49238-8 A very unique Conference was convened in August 1999, prior to the annual meeting of the International Society of Biomechanics that was held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Biologists, Biomechanics, Zoologists, and Engineers participated in this Conference, which covered the entire spectrum of muscle: from molecular motion to in vivo function, in an effort to create an atmosphere of synergy and cross-fertilization. This goal was accomplished. The meeting was extremely stimulating since many of these speakers had not previously had the opportunity to enjoy the interesting work being performed across the globe. In an effort to share the depth and breadth of the many presentations, Dr. Herzog assembled a collection of manuscripts into the edited book, skeletal muscle mechanics: from mechanisms to function. The textbook necessarily spans a tremendous range of topics and therefore contains significant gaps relative to the general field. However, the great span of topics also represents the unique point-of view of this particular work. Such a wide span is especially unique in light of the increasing specialization that occurs in the field of muscle mechanics and other scientific disciplines. The textbook proceeds from a basic presentation of muscle contraction mechanisms (Part 1) through a section on theoretical modeling (Part 2) and concludes with two sections on in vivo muscle function in both humans and animals (Parts 3 and 4). The authors are generally experts in their fields and there is a fairly high concentration of contributors from the University of
PII: S 0 0 2 1 - 9 2 9 0 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 6 2 - 8
Calgary. One of the highlight chapters, in my opinion, was the contribution by Professor Andrew Huxley, which not only reviewed basic cross-bridge mechanisms, but also provided personal vignettes that were of extreme significance to Professor Huxley, clearly a major contributor to the field. This book should be of interest primarily to graduate students and researchers in the field who would like to have collection of the range of approaches to studying muscle function from the molecular to the whole body level. The work is well illustrated and well referenced and should serve as a springboard to developing future studies of muscle function. Most of the chapters contain a large number of editorial comments and opinions, which I consider a strong point since these are often edited out in the scientific literature. This leaves no doubt as to the perspective of the writer. Since this work did represent a collection of presentations from a single meeting, one thing that would have been nice would have been to cross-reference different chapters within the textbook itself to a greater extent or to provide ‘‘outside’’ commentary of chapters from other participants. However, on balance, Dr. Herzog has succeeded in his goal of having Skeletal Muscle mechanics: From Mechanics to function provide a unique and refreshing perspective on certain topics in muscle mechanics. Walter Herzog Faculty of Kinesiology, Human Performance Laboratory, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N IN4 E-mail address: [email protected]
Book review Skeletal muscle mechanics: from mechanisms to function Walter Herzog (Ed.); Wiley, Ltd 1 Oldlands Way, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO22 9SA, England, 2000, p. 554 Price $ 165.00 ISBN 0-471-49238-8 A very unique Conference was convened in August 1999, prior to the annual meeting of the International Society of Biomechanics that was held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Biologists, Biomechanics, Zoologists, and Engineers participated in this Conference, which covered the entire spectrum of muscle: from molecular motion to in vivo function, in an effort to create an atmosphere of synergy and cross-fertilization. This goal was accomplished. The meeting was extremely stimulating since many of these speakers had not previously had the opportunity to enjoy the interesting work being performed across the globe. In an effort to share the depth and breadth of the many presentations, Dr. Herzog assembled a collection of manuscripts into the edited book, skeletal muscle mechanics: from mechanisms to function. The textbook necessarily spans a tremendous range of topics and therefore contains significant gaps relative to the general field. However, the great span of topics also represents the unique point-of view of this particular work. Such a wide span is especially unique in light of the increasing specialization that occurs in the field of muscle mechanics and other scientific disciplines. The textbook proceeds from a basic presentation of muscle contraction mechanisms (Part 1) through a section on theoretical modeling (Part 2) and concludes with two sections on in vivo muscle function in both humans and animals (Parts 3 and 4). The authors are generally experts in their fields and there is a fairly high concentration of contributors from the University of
PII: S 0 0 2 1 - 9 2 9 0 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 6 2 - 8
Calgary. One of the highlight chapters, in my opinion, was the contribution by Professor Andrew Huxley, which not only reviewed basic cross-bridge mechanisms, but also provided personal vignettes that were of extreme significance to Professor Huxley, clearly a major contributor to the field. This book should be of interest primarily to graduate students and researchers in the field who would like to have collection of the range of approaches to studying muscle function from the molecular to the whole body level. The work is well illustrated and well referenced and should serve as a springboard to developing future studies of muscle function. Most of the chapters contain a large number of editorial comments and opinions, which I consider a strong point since these are often edited out in the scientific literature. This leaves no doubt as to the perspective of the writer. Since this work did represent a collection of presentations from a single meeting, one thing that would have been nice would have been to cross-reference different chapters within the textbook itself to a greater extent or to provide ‘‘outside’’ commentary of chapters from other participants. However, on balance, Dr. Herzog has succeeded in his goal of having Skeletal Muscle mechanics: From Mechanics to function provide a unique and refreshing perspective on certain topics in muscle mechanics. Walter Herzog Faculty of Kinesiology, Human Performance Laboratory, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N IN4 E-mail address: [email protected]