This book covers a broad area of STEM discipline, and is written as a textbook for biology, bioengineering, physical chemistry, electrical engineering, and computer science students. It includes muscle biomechanics, viscoelasticity, chemical kinetics, system analysis, analog and digital electronics, methods for interfacing the experimental apparatus to a computer, programming computers to carry out experiments, and mathematics needed for these operations. Emphasis is given to the essentials, so that a beginner can understand the content, yet the principles can be applied to a variety of advanced systems. This book also includes exercise questions for important equations to be verified. Trying to solve a problem by oneself fosters good thinking, creativity, and independence, which would be essential for exploration of science. You can start from any chapter based on your interest and need and jump around chapters as necessary.
Basic elements of viscoelasticity.- Reaction processes (chemical
kinetics) and their application to muscle biology,- Historical overview
Methods of measuring mechano-chemical properties of muscle.- Structure and
function of muscle cells.- The Elementary Step that Generates Force.-
Temperature effect.- Mathematics needed to solve problems of contraction.-
How to fit the data to an equation.- Basics Electronics.- Computer
interfacing of experimental apparatus.- Programming computers to carry out
experiments and analysis of results.- People who supported and participated
in my research.
Dr. Masataka Kawai (spelled ) is a native of Japan and received his B.A. from The University of Tokyo (Pure and Applied Sciences ), and Ph.D. from Princeton University (Biology; Princeton, NJ, USA). He completed a Physiology Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, MA, USA); instructors included Andrew Szent-Györgyi, Hugh E. Huxley, Annemarie Weber, and Michael K. Reedy, who influenced Kawai to carry out muscle research. He has had postdoctoral training at Columbia University (New York City, NY, USA), where he became a junior faculty member. He is now a professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA. He taught histology to medical and dental students (35 years), and principles of scholarly integrity to graduate and postdoctoral students (15 years). He also taught gross anatomy to medical, dental and physical therapy students since 2017. His hobbies include playing the piano, singing Japanese and Western lyrics, gardening, sky gazing, and travels. He has taken piano lessons from a concert pianist in New York City, and piano and voice lessons in Iowa City. While writing the first edition of this book, he recorded Japanese and Western lyrical songs and produced two CDs. During the second revision, he published a review on the Elementary Step That Generates Force (Kawai, 2025).
