HONR 4510 sec 880 Fall Semester

CHEN 2830 sec 001 Spring Semester

A California condor and the black footed albatross both are soarers (gliders) but they have drastically different wing designs. Why? A hummingbird flies using the same principles as a helicopter uses, a most interesting fact if one understands, in fact, how a helicopter flies. A dolphin appears to slide through the water with less effort than any man-made machine; is it possible that the dolphin is somewhat more like swimming sperms than a racing trout? A flea as it jumps reaches an acceleration of 140X the acceleration of gravity although it is only going about 3 mph! We will discuss the physical, chemical, physiological and fluid dynamical mechanisms used by a variety of living systems for locomotion. Organisms we will study will range from the bacterium, with its rotary "tail," to the largest swimming giants of the ocean. In terms of "running machines" we will show why the running horse and a bicyclist have both reached the "ultimate" in biological and engineering design.

Text: 1) Scientific American Library - Exploring Biomechanics. By McNeill Alexander.

2) How Animals Work - Knut Schmidt-Nielson

3) CDROM - How Animals Move

Prerequisites: No previous work in science is needed but a desire to look at nature in a new way is an absolute must.

Instructor: Professor R. Igor Gamow

Information about this course call: 492-6969