The Biokinetics of Flying and Swimming (AIAA Education) 2nd Edition

This is a good book, but, as the author himself states, it is simplified from his first edition. That was at so high a level that only applied mathematicians and the like seemed to be buying it -- not a large audience. This, for me, might be called a "goal" or "aim" book; I'm very interested in its subject matter for personal reasons, but cannot yet follow a lot of it. I'm using it to guide me in the learning of the necessary math, physics, and engineering - if a particular kind of math/physics/engineering is in it, I know I need to learn it (I am fortunate to have a husband who both knows the math, etc., in it - or at least a big chunk of it - and can teach me it). I'm not sure if most biologists would be able to understand it as, even in its simplified form, it requires quite a bit of engineering math. While it covers material that would be hard for me to obtain otherwise, I still think, "If this is simplified, what math/science did his first edition require?"

Very good ! Thank you.

There used to be a story that it was easy to prove that a Bumblebee couldn't fly, but that the Bumblebee couldn't read so he went ahead and flew anyway. It's clear that if a Bumblee could read, then this book would explain exactly how it is that it does fly.Specifically this book is about the mechanical aspects of how living creatures move through the media of air and/or water. To an extent it talks about the environmental habitat and the ecology of the animal or plant, but it's primary concern is the mechanics of how it moves through the air or water. It includes everything from spores and polen that float through the air, to whales. It treats these biological 'machines' using many of the same terms that come from aeronautics: drag, lift, force, power, structure, airflow, Reynolds Number and so on. The theories that have been learned about aircraft are applied to what happens when a birds wing beats, or a fish's fin moves. The book is mathematically rigorous at a level through at least integral calculus.This is the second edition of this book, revised and updated from the very difficult to find 1992 edition.