1st Edition

Information, Natural Law, and the Self-Assembly of Rhythmic Movement

By Peter N. Kugler, Michael T. Turvey Copyright 1987
482 Pages
by Routledge

514 Pages
by Routledge

514 Pages
by Routledge

Originally published in 1987, the introduction states: "the authors have successfully accomplished their program – to explain, based on physical representations, the observed relations among various parameters of wrist-pendulum oscillations. Thereby a set of new ideas and concepts, including those developed recently by the scientific school to which the authors belong, are introduced to biology.... Read more

Foreword: Physics and Biology F. Eugene Yates.  Introduction: Physical and Neurophysiological Perspectives on Movement M.B. Berkinblit and A.G. Feldman.  Preface.  1. Perspectives on Rhythmic Movement  2. Problems of Measurement and Modeling  3. Why Things Flow: An Outline of Physical Theory for Simple Atomisms  4. Why Things Flow: An Outline of Physical Theory for Complex Atomisms  5. Why Things "Tick": Physical Prerequisites for Self-Sustained Oscillation  6. An Experimental Methodology for Investigating the Soft, Self-Assembly of the Pendular, Clocking Mode  7. Haptic Information as the Abstracted Morphology of Movement Dynamics  8. The Scaling Relation of Natural Period to Mass and Length  9. Measuring the Energy for Coordination  10. Spacing in the Pendular Clocking Mode: The Theory of Conditional Periodicity and Adiabatic Invariants in Open Conservative and Nonconservative Systems  11. Assembling and Sustaining Escapements for Biomechanical Oscillation: Identifying the Engine (Chemical-Thermal-Mechanical) Process  12. The Adiabatic Hypothesis and the Proportioning of Space to Mass, Length, and Period: Experimental Evaluations  13. Intentionality and Units of Action.  Epilogue.  Appendix A: Holonomic and Non-Holonomic Constraints.  Appendix B: Collisions and Fracture.  Appendix C: Huygens’ Derivation of the Center of Oscillation.  Appendix D: Physical Laws, Structural Stability, and Dimensional Homogeneity.  Appendix E: Natural Law and Adjunctive Logic.  Author Index.  Subject Index.

Biography

Peter N. Kugler, Michael T. Turvey