Edited by V. L. Bels, J.-P. Gasc and A. Casinos Experimental Biology Reviews. Oxford, UK: BIOS Scientific Publishing Ltd. (2003) 332 pp. ISBN 1-85996-238-6 £90
“The idea that animals are designed is dead, killed by Hume,buried, perhaps unwittingly by Darwin, but however comprehensively it is disposed of, like the walking dead it haunts us still.” (Ollason,1987)
Biomechanics has often come in the guise of adaptationism. What could be more intuitive than the question “What is this structure good for?” Biomechanics has also become the classic tool with which to explain form and function in organisms. In 19 chapters, the fruits of a conference on `Evolution and Biomechanics' in Canterbury 2000, the book shows how studies of modern biomechanics address `design' in animals: what determines how vertebrates propel themselves, process food or breathe? The contributing authors show how modern biomechanics can be used to dispel quite a...
