Full Description
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.
Contents
I On the External Motions of Animals and the Involved Forces.- To the august Queen Christina.- Carlo Giovanni from the regular clerics of Jesus, general superior of the arm and pious scholars of the Mother of God. Benevolent reader, greetings.- I Enumeration of what must be assumed in dealing with movement of the animals.- II Description and function of the muscle.- III Magnitude of the vital motive power of the muscles according to the ancients.- IV Theorems useful to show the hugeness of the motive power of the muscles.- V Although contracted with a maximum effort by a determined magnitude of motive power, a muscle sometimes may exert very little or no force.- VI Mechanical lemmas useful to explain the power or the moment of the muscles.- VII The tendons of the muscles must not be attached to the extremities of the articulated bones but well on tuberosities in the vicinity of the joint with their direction oblique to the longitudinal axis of the bone.- VIII On the motive power and on the moments of the flexor muscles of the elbow.- IX On the flexor muscles of the lower leg and their action about the knee.- X On the double increase of the forces of the muscles flexing the forearm and the lower leg.- XI On the moment and apparent magnitude of the motive power exerted by the extensor muscles of the lower leg.- XII On the greater increase of the force which, to carry the same load with the same bones, is required from the muscles which are involved in the operation.- XIII Lemmas necessary to analyse the motive power of the muscles the fibres of which are not parallel and pull obliquely.- XIV On the muscles pulling obliquely, their varying structure and their action.- XV Analysis of the forces exerted by the radial muscles described so far.- XVI Lemmas of mechanics necessary for a more accurate analysis of the motive force exerted by the muscles.- XVII More accurate analysis of the motive power of the muscles described above.- XVIII On the stance of the animals.- XIX On the walking of bipeds.- XX On the walking of quadrupeds.- XXI On jumping.- XXII On flying.- XXIII On swimming.- II On the Internal Motions of Animals and Their Immediate Causes.- Carlo Giovanni of the regular clerics of Jesus, general superior of the pious school of the Mother of God. Benevolent reader, greetings.- I On the mechanism of muscle contraction.- II On the untrue causes of contraction of muscles given by others.- III On the likely causes of contraction of the muscles.- IV On internal movements in animals and first on blood circulation.- V On the heart and its pulsation.- VI On the causes of the movement of the heart.- VII On breathing.- VIII On the primary function of respiration.- IX On cleaning of the blood in the kidneys.- X On the function of the liver.- XI On the flowing of spirituous substance through the nerves.- XII On semen, its genesis, movement and nature.- XIII On the generation and development of plants.- XIV On animal generation.- XV On insensible perspiration.- XVI On nutrition of the animals.- XVII On hunger and thirst.- XVIII On pain.- XIX On fatigue.- XX On convulsions.- XXI On shivering.- XXII On fevers.- References.- Name and Subject Index.
