Tissue Mechanics

I was delighted when I learned in the fall of 2005 that Steve Cowin was working on a textbook in biomechanics. Steve and I were in the same department at Tulane University in the 1970s, and under his influence I learned the beauty and power of continuum mechanics as a means to better understand the musculoskeletal system. When I began teaching courses in biomechanics during that decade, it was natural to teach the material from a continuum mechanics persp- tive. Over the years I have used a variety of continuum mechanics texts, but, for the most part, I have had to find the biomedical examples I used directly from the research literature. I have now had a chance to review a draft of Tissue Mechanics by Cowin and Doty, and it exceeds my high expectations. The material includes a rigorous and comprehensive introd- tion to continuum mechanics oriented toward biomechanics. Indeed, all of the foundation t- ics for continuum models of biological materials are covered. This material is illustrated through applications to the hard and soft tissues of the human body. Steve Cowin is now one of the leading researchers in the mechanics of bone, so one would expect the chapters on bone tissue and bone tissue adaptation to be of a very high order. But the presentation on collagen and cartilage mechanics is also excellent. Their presentation of finite deformation mechanics and its application to tendons and ligaments is one of the most accessible in the literature.

Professor Cowin received his BES and MS in Civil Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1956 and 1958, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from the Pennsylvania State University in 1962. After one year on the faculty at the Pennsylvania State University, he began a 25-year-long association with Tulane University in 1963. His principal research interest is the mechanics of materials, particularly in determining the influence of microstructure on the gross mechanical behavior of granular, composite, and biological materials.

Professor Cowin has also been Professor-in-Charge of the Tulane/Newcomb Junior Year Abroad Program in Great Britain and Chairman of the Applied Mathematics Program at Tulane. In 1985 he received the Society of Tulane Engineers and Lee H. Johnson Award for Teaching Excellence. He was the recipient of the Best Paper Award from the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1992; a recipient of the Melville Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1993, and a recipient of the European Society of Biomechanics Research Award in 1994. In 1999 he receive the H. R. Lissner medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for contributions to biomedical engineering. In 2004 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 2004 he also received the Maurice A. Biot medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Professor Cowin is the author of over 200 research papers and editor or co-editor of five books. The edited books include both editions of the popular Bone Mechanics Handbook (CRC Press, 1989, 2001) and Cardiovascular Soft Tissue Mechanics (Kluwer, 2001). He is presently or has been Regional Editor for Forma, Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Mechanics, the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biomechanics<, the International Journal of Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, the Annals of Biomedical Engineering, and Mechanics Research Communications.

Dr. Doty attended undergraduate and graduate school at Rice University, Houston, Texas, and received his PhD in 1965, concentrating on physiology and biology. He was Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1965-1975, with one year at NIH on a Special Fellowship in Pathology at the National Cancer Institute. He then worked at the NIH Dental Institute for 3 years, studying the developmental patterns of bone and dental tissues. In 1978 he accepted a position at Columbia University School of Medicine and advanced to Associate Professor in Anatomy, with an appointment in the Orthopedic Surgery division. From 1989 he has been affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as a Senior Scientist and as the Director of the Analytical Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility.

Dr. Doty has over 100 publications in the field of anatomy, developmental biology, and the physiology of skeletal and connective tissues. His honors include several commendations for participation in the Russian/NASA spaceflights, the Spacelab Life Science NASA spaceflights, and numerous Shuttle missions that studied the influence of spaceflight on skeletal physiology. He presently is on the scientific advisory board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, Texas.

Dr. Doty attended undergraduate and graduate school at Rice University, Houston, Texas, and received his PhD in 1965, concentrating on physiology and biology. He was Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1965-1975, with one year at NIH on a Special Fellowship in Pathology at the National Cancer Institute. He then worked at the NIH Dental Institute for 3 years, studying the developmental patterns of bone and dental tissues. In 1978 he accepted a position at Columbia University School of Medicine and advanced to Associate Professor in Anatomy, with an appointment in the Orthopedic Surgery division. From 1989 he has been affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as a Senior Scientist and as the Director of the Analytical Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility.

Dr. Doty has over 100 publications in the field of anatomy, developmental biology, and the physiology of skeletal and connective tissues. His honors include several commendations for participation in the Russian/NASA spaceflights, the Spacelab Life Science NASA spaceflights, and numerous Shuttle missions that studied the influence of spaceflight on skeletal physiology. He presently is on the scientific advisory board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, Texas.

Dr. Doty attended undergraduate and graduate school at Rice University, Houston, Texas, and received his PhD in 1965, concentrating on physiology and biology. He was Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1965-1975, with one year at NIH on a Special Fellowship in Pathology at the National Cancer Institute. He then worked at the NIH Dental Institute for 3 years, studying the developmental patterns of bone and dental tissues. In 1978 he accepted a position at Columbia University School of Medicine and advanced to Associate Professor in Anatomy, with an appointment in the Orthopedic Surgery division. From 1989 he has been affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as a Senior Scientist and as the Director of the Analytical Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility.

Dr. Doty has over 100 publications in the field of anatomy, developmental biology, and the physiology of skeletal and connective tissues. His honors include several commendations for participation in the Russian/NASA spaceflights, the Spacelab Life Science NASA spaceflights, and numerous Shuttle missions that studied the influence of spaceflight on skeletal physiology. He presently is on the scientific advisory board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, Texas.

Dr. Doty attended undergraduate and graduate school at Rice University, Houston, Texas, and received his PhD in 1965, concentrating on physiology and biology. He was Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1965-1975, with one year at NIH on a Special Fellowship in Pathology at the National Cancer Institute. He then worked at the NIH Dental Institute for 3 years, studying the developmental patterns of bone and dental tissues. In 1978 he accepted a position at Columbia University School of Medicine and advanced to Associate Professor in Anatomy, with an appointment in the Orthopedic Surgery division. From 1989 he has been affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as a Senior Scientist and as the Director of the Analytical Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility.

Dr. Doty has over 100 publications in the field of anatomy, developmental biology, and the physiology of skeletal and connective tissues. His honors include several commendations for participation in the Russian/NASA spaceflights, the Spacelab Life Science NASA spaceflights, and numerous Shuttle missions that studied the influence of spaceflight on skeletal physiology. He presently is on the scientific advisory board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, Texas.