Kinematics of Human Motion [Hardcover]

This book is the first major text on the kinematics of human motion and is written by one of the world's leading authorities on the subject.

The book begins with careful descriptions of how to study human body position and displacement without regard to time, velocity, or acceleration. Then Dr. Zatsiorsky examines differential kinematics of human motion by ""adding"" the variables of velocity and acceleration in simple and complex biokinematic chains and by adding the variable of three-dimensional movement to the study of multilink chains. The book includes the three-dimensional analysis of 26 specific human joints, from the temporomandibular joint to the joints of the midfoot.

While the book is advanced and assumes a knowledge of calculus and matrix algebra, the emphasis is on explaining movement concepts, not mathematical formulae. The text features 23 refreshers of the basic concepts and many practical examples. The book is well illustrated and clearly written as the author skillfully integrates mechanical models with biological experiments.

The foremost biomechanist of the former Soviet Union, and a professor at The Pennsylvania State University since 1991, Vladimir Zatsiorsky shares his 35 years of research and teaching in biomechanics in what may well be the most important biomechanics book of the 1990s.

Vladimir M. Zatsiorsky, PhD, is a world-renowned expert in the biomechanics of human motion. He has been a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at The Pennsylvania State University since 1991. He also is the director of the university's biomechanics laboratory.

Prior to coming to North America in 1990, Dr. Zatsiorsky served for 18 years as professor and department chair of the Department of Biomechanics at the Central Institute of Physical Culture in Moscow. For 26 years he served as consultant to the national Olympic teams of the USSR. He also was director of the USSR's All-Union Research Institute of Physical Culture for three years.

In addition to his academic pursuits in the classroom, laboratory, and field, Dr. Zatsiorsky is a prolific writer who has authored or coauthored more than 240 scientific papers and several books on various aspects of biomechanics. In recognition of his achievements, he has received several awards, including the Geoffrey Dyson Award from the International Society of Biomechanics in Sport (the society's highest honor) and the USSR's National Gold Medal for the Best Scientific Research in Sport in 1976 and 1982.

Dr. Zatsiorsky is a member of the American Society of Biomechanics and the International Society of Biomechanics.

He and his wife Rita live in State College, Pennsylvania. They have two children and two grandchildren.