This volume provides an introduction to Borelli s theory on the movement of animals and demonstrates the nature of the energy of percussion, its causes, properties and effects. Building on and moving away from the theory of mechanics as formulated by Aristotle and Galileo and countering objections expressed by Stephani degli Angeli among others, Borelli presents a completely mechanical account of the action of muscles and analyzes the way in which the center of gravity of the animal shifts in locomotion.

Originally published in Italian in 1667, then translated into Latin in 1686, the text of this volume has now been translated into English, making the text accessible to a wide readership.

This volume is the first of two volumes that contain the Introduction and physical-mathematical illustrations necessary to understand Giovanni Alfonso Borelli s work "On the Movement of Animals, " the founding text of seventeenth century biomechanics. The second volume, entitled"On The Natural Motions Resulting From Gravity, "describes his theory and scientific experiments relating to the natural movements of bodies in a fluid environment."

This is by far the most exhaustive biography on Niels Stensen, anatomist, geologist and bishop, better known as "Nicolaus Steno". We learn about the scientist's family and background in Lutheran Denmark, of his teachers at home and abroad, of his studies and travels in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Germany, of his many pioneering achievements in anatomy and geology, of his encounters with Swammerdam, Malpighi and with members of the newly established Royal Society of London and the Accademia del Cimento in Florence, and with the philosopher Spinoza. It further treats Stensen's religious conversion. The book includes the full set of Steno's anatomical and geological scientific papers in original language. The editors thoroughly translated the original Latin text to English, and included numerous footnotes on the background of this bibliographic and scientific treasure from the 17th century.

This volume provides an introduction to Borelli s theory on the movement of animals and describes his theory and scientific experiments relating to the natural movements of bodies in a fluid environment. It describes in great detail why and how bodies which present with different magnitudes, weights and shapes move at a greater or a smaller velocity in certain proportion in the fluid environment.

Originally published in Italian in 1667, then translated into Latin in 1686, the text of this volume has now been translated into English, making the text accessible to a wide readership.

This volume is the second of two volumes that contain the Introduction and physical-mathematical illustrations necessary to understand Giovanni Alfonso Borelli s work "On the Movement of Animals, " the founding text of seventeenth century biomechanics. The first volume, entitled "On the Force of Percussion," " "demonstrates the nature of the energy of percussion, its causes, properties and effects."

This is by far the most exhaustive biography on Niels Stensen, anatomist, geologist and bishop, better known as "Nicolaus Steno". We learn about the scientist's family and background in Lutheran Denmark, of his teachers at home and abroad, of his studies and travels in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Germany, of his many pioneering achievements in anatomy and geology, of his encounters with Swammerdam, Malpighi and with members of the newly established Royal Society of London and the Accademia del Cimento in Florence, and with the philosopher Spinoza. It further treats Stensen's religious conversion. The book includes the full set of Steno's anatomical and geological scientific papers in original language. The editors thoroughly translated the original Latin text to English, and included numerous footnotes on the background of this bibliographic and scientific treasure from the 17th century.

This is by far the most exhaustive biography on Niels Stensen, anatomist, geologist and bishop, better known as "Nicolaus Steno". We learn about the scientist's family and background in Lutheran Denmark, of his teachers at home and abroad, of his studies and travels in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Germany, of his many pioneering achievements in anatomy and geology, of his encounters with Swammerdam, Malpighi and with members of the newly established Royal Society of London and the Accademia del Cimento in Florence, and with the philosopher Spinoza. It further treats Stensen's religious conversion. The book includes the full set of Steno's anatomical and geological scientific papers in original language. The editors thoroughly translated the original Latin text to English, and included numerous footnotes on the background of this bibliographic and scientific treasure from the 17th century.

This volume provides an introduction to Borelli's theory on the movement of animals and describes his theory and scientific experiments relating to the natural movements of bodies in a fluid environment. It describes in great detail why and how bodies which present with different magnitudes, weights and shapes move at a greater or a smaller velocity in certain proportion in the fluid environment. Originally published in Italian in 1667, then translated into Latin in 1686, the text of this volume has now been translated into English, making the text accessible to a wide readership. This volume is the second of two volumes that contain the Introduction and physical-mathematical illustrations necessary to understand Giovanni Alfonso Borelli's work On the Movement of Animals, the founding text of seventeenth century biomechanics. The first volume, entitled On the Force of Percussion, demonstrates the nature of the energy of percussion, its causes, properties and effects.

This volume provides an introduction to Borelli's theory on the movement of animals and demonstrates the nature of the energy of percussion, its causes, properties and effects. Building on and moving away from the theory of mechanics as formulated by Aristotle and Galileo and countering objections expressed by Stephani degli Angeli among others, Borelli presents a completely mechanical account of the action of muscles and analyzes the way in which the center of gravity of the animal shifts in locomotion. Originally published in Italian in 1667, then translated into Latin in 1686, the text of this volume has now been translated into English, making the text accessible to a wide readership. This volume is the first of two volumes that contain the Introduction and physical-mathematical illustrations necessary to understand Giovanni Alfonso Borelli's work On the Movement of Animals, the founding text of seventeenth century biomechanics. The second volume, entitled On The Natural Motions Resulting From Gravity, describes his theory and scientific experiments relating to the natural movements of bodies in a fluid environment.

This is another classic contribution by Braune and Fischer to the field of biomechanics. The pendulum method was employed to ascertain ac curately the moments and radii of inertia of the human body and its different parts about all axes - transverse, oblique or longitudinal. This elegant method is described in detail, together with the results. Relations were found between the centres of inertia on one hand and the lengths and diameters of the body segments on the other. These data were originally prepared for the authors' later work, The Human Gait, to determine the forces exerted on and by the parts of the body during walking. Such work is the basis for solving the mechanical prob lems related to any movement of the human body: thus, the original results presented here continue to be of im mense value to current research and practice. Aywaille, May 1988 P. Maquet v Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Experimental Determination of the Moments of Inertia of the Parts of the Body About Axes Through the Centre of Gravity and at Right Angles to the Longitudinal Axis, and About the Longitudinal Axis Itself . . . . 11 First Series of Experiments. . . . . 16 Second Series of Experiments. . . . 25 Oscillations of the Trunk and Head System. 29 Oscillations of the Trunk Without the Head 30 Oscillations of the Head. . . 31 Oscillations of the Left Leg. . . . . . . . 31 Oscillations of the Left Thigh. . . . . . . 31 Oscillations of the Left Lower Leg and Foot System . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Oscillations of the Left Lower Leg . . ."

The different chapters of the present book were published separately each as a complete entity in the Proceedings of the Royal Saxon Society for Sciences. Chapter 1 appeared in 1895 under the names of Wilhelm Braune and Otto Fischer although Braune died immediately after the initial experiments, before the recordings had been interpreted. Chapters 2-6 were signed by Fischer only and appeared in 1899, 1900, 1901, 1903 and 1904. Basic data needed for this investigation of the human gait had been provided previously. A research on the centre of gravity ofthe human body and its different segments by both authors was published in 1889, determination of the moments of inertia of the human body and its segments in 1892. So far only the fIrst of these two works has been published in English. The other has been translated and awaits publication. Springer-Verlag must be congratulated for the quality of this edition and for the care they took in reproducing the original fIgures. This was certainly no easy task. We thank them for the patience they displayed towards the translators. Publication of the present book was made possible fInancially by Prof. M. Muller, Bern. We are grateful to him for his generosity and so will be the scientifIc community.

"De Motu animalium" is sometimes referred to in the medical literature. But who has read it? The book, originally published in Latin, seemingly constitutes the very first treatise on biomechanics. The author, Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608 - 1679), was professor of mathematics and physics in Pisa where he worked with Malpighi, who was professor of theoretical medicine and focused Borelli's interest on the movements of living creatures. This was the time of Galileo, Descartes, Newton and many others, when sciences exploded, sometimes leading to conflicts with religious authorities. "De Motu animalium," Borelli's life work, has two parts. In the first part, he analyses the action of the muscles, the movements of the limbs and motions of man and animals, including skating, running, jumping, swimming and flying. The second part deals with what is now called physiology, considered from the point of view of a mechanist: heart beat, blood circulation, breathing, separation of urine from the blood in the kidneys, liver function, reproduction, fatigue, thirst, hunger, fever, and so on. This work shows Borelli to be a genial precursor. He expresses his opinion as a mathematician on problems which afterwards further stimulated the curiosity and endeavours of many generations of researchers. This book will be welcomed by anybody who is interested in the working of living bodies and in the history of human knowledge.