Information, Natural Law, and the Self-Assembly of Rhythmic Movement

Originally published in 1987 the foreword states: " Kugler and Turvey have written strategic physical biology, and shown that, after all, dynamics (including both kinetics and kinematics) may support a unitary physical view of some of the profound operations of our brains... This is a grand start on what I hope is a larger program of demystifying behaviour."

Foreword: Physics and Biology F. Eugene Yates. Introduction: Physical and Neurophysiological Perspectives on Movement M.B. Berkinblit and A.G. Feldman. Preface. 1. Perspectives on Rhythmic Movement 2. Problems of Measurement and Modeling 3. Why Things Flow: An Outline of Physical Theory for Simple Atomisms 4. Why Things Flow: An Outline of Physical Theory for Complex Atomisms 5. Why Things "Tick": Physical Prerequisites for Self-Sustained Oscillation 6. An Experimental Methodology for Investigating the Soft, Self-Assembly of the Pendular, Clocking Mode 7. Haptic Information as the Abstracted Morphology of Movement Dynamics 8. The Scaling Relation of Natural Period to Mass and Length 9. Measuring the Energy for Coordination 10. Spacing in the Pendular Clocking Mode: The Theory of Conditional Periodicity and Adiabatic Invariants in Open Conservative and Nonconservative Systems 11. Assembling and Sustaining Escapements for Biomechanical Oscillation: Identifying the Engine (Chemical-Thermal-Mechanical) Process 12. The Adiabatic Hypothesis and the Proportioning of Space to Mass, Length, and Period: Experimental Evaluations 13. Intentionality and Units of Action. Epilogue. Appendix A: Holonomic and Non-Holonomic Constraints. Appendix B: Collisions and Fracture. Appendix C: Huygens' Derivation of the Center of Oscillation. Appendix D: Physical Laws, Structural Stability, and Dimensional Homogeneity. Appendix E: Natural Law and Adjunctive Logic. Author Index. Subject Index.