The biokinetics of flying and swimming

Through study of locomotion of living creatures, Akira Azuma has come to the conclusion that every creature is made and moves in a manner that is best suited to its environmental conditions. Thus, one purpose of this book is to shed light on the physical relationships among habitat, form or life, and mode of movement in living creatures. The text also reviews results of theoretical and empirical research carried out by various scientists over the years. Each of the two main parts of the book, ""Flying Dynamics and Swimming Dynamics"", is written from the viewpoint of mechanics, specifically fluid dynamics, rather than from the viewpoint of physiology and ecology. Thus the chapters and sections are organized according to mechanical, not biological principles. However, Azuma hopes that the book will prove to be useful reference not only to engineers working and studying fluid and flight dynamics, but also for biologists using mechanical analyses to gain a better understanding of the behavior of animals and the mechanical functions of the body parts in relation to their forms and modes of locomotion.

Author Notes

Akira Azuma is Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo

Preface	p. xi
Preface to AIAA Edition	p. xv
Nomenclature	p. xvii
1 Introduction	p. 1
1.1 Form and Locomotion	p. 1
1.2 Dynamic Similarity	p. 6
2 Dragging, Floating, and Jumping	p. 15
2.1 Terminal Speed of Free-Falling Bodies	p. 15
2.2 Drifting in Air	p. 18
2.3 Drifting in Water	p. 22
2.4 Jumping and Free Falling	p. 25
3 Flight by Gliding	p. 33
3.1 Wing Characteristics	p. 33
3.2 Flight in Birds	p. 42
3.3 Wind Effects on Gliding Flight	p. 61
3.4 Auxiliary Devices	p. 72
3.5 Other Forms of Gliding Flight	p. 78
3.6 Rotary Seeds	p. 104
4 Flight by Beating	p. 123
4.1 Powered Flight	p. 123
4.2 Flight in Birds	p. 149
4.3 Power-Saving Flight	p. 181
4.4 Flight in Insects	p. 200
4.5 Flight Mechanics in Insects	p. 221
4.6 Statistical Data on Wings	p. 259
4.7 Human-Powered Flight	p. 262
5 Swimming by Snaking	p. 277
5.1 Micro- and Medium-Sized Elongate Organisms	p. 277
5.2 Undulatory Motion of a Large Elongate Body	p. 294
6 Swimming by Fanning	p. 313
6.1 Fish	p. 313
6.2 Slender Bodies	p. 335
6.3 Fanning Mechanics	p. 345
6.4 Cetacea and Sirenia	p. 375
7 Swimming by Other Methods	p. 387
7.1 Paddling and Whipping	p. 387
7.2 Jetting	p. 404
7.3 Sweeping	p. 412
7.4 Beating	p. 417
7.5 Sailing	p. 421
7.6 Skating and Wave Riding	p. 428
8 Supplements and Summary	p. 435
8.1 Wing Types and Body Forms	p. 435
8.2 Kinematics of Body and Wing Motion	p. 437
8.3 Kinetics of Body Motion	p. 458
8.4 Local Momentum Theory and Local Circulation Method	p. 469
8.5 Concluding Remarks by Chapter	p. 476
8.6 In Summary	p. 480
Bibliography and Further Reading	p. 483
Index	p. 515
Supporting Materials	p. 519

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Author Notes

Table of Contents