Modern Mechanism

The Romance of Modern Mechanism is a scientific book touching on the impact of different machines on the lifestyle of the average man. It offers interesting descriptions in non-technical language of various machinery and mechanical devices as well as scientific instruments in common use by 1910, when it was written by author Archibald Williams.

This volume emphasizes the diversity and fruitfulness of early modern mechanism as a program, as a concept, as a model. Mechanistic study of the living body but also of the mind and mental processes are examined in careful historical focus, dealing with figures ranging from the first-rank (Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza, Cudworth, Gassendi, Locke, Leibniz, Kant) to less well-known individuals (Scaliger, Martini) or prominent natural philosophers who have been neglected in recent years (Willis, Steno, etc.). The volume moves from early modern medicine and physiology to late Enlightenment and even early 19th-century psychology, always maintaining a conceptual focus. It is a contribution to a newly active field in the history and philosophy of early modern life science. It is of interest to scholars studying the history of medicine and the development of mechanistic theories.

Focusing on Hermann von Helmholtz, this study addresses one of the nineteenth century’s most important German natural scientists. Among his most well-known contributions to science are the invention of the ophthalmoscope and grou- breaking work towards formulating the law of the conservation of energy. The volume of his work, reaching from medicine to physiology to physics and epis- mology, his impact on the development of the sciences far beyond German borders, and the contribution he made to the organization and popularization of research, all established Helmholtz’s prominence both in the academic world and in public cultural life. Helmholtz was also one of the last representatives of a conception of nature that strove to reduce all phenomena to matter in motion. In reaction to the increasingly insurmountable difficulties that program had in fulfilling its own standards for s- entific explanation, he developed elements of a modern understanding of science that have remained of fundamental importance to this day.

The mechanical philosophy first emerged as a leading player on the intellectual scene in the early modern period—seeking to explain all natural phenomena through the physics of matter and motion—and the term mechanism was coined. Over time, natural phenomena came to be understood through machine analogies and explanations and the very word mechanism, a suggestive and ambiguous expression, took on a host of different meanings. Emphasizing the important role of key ancient and early modern protagonists, from Galen to Robert Boyle, this book offers a historical investigation of the term mechanism from the late Renaissance to the end of the seventeenth century, at a time when it was used rather frequently in complex debates about the nature of the notion of the soul. In this rich and detailed study, Domenico Bertoloni Meli focuses on strategies for discussing the notion of mechanism in historically sensitive ways; the relation between mechanism, visual representation, and anatomy; the usage and meaning of the term in early modern times; and Marcello Malpighi and the problems of fecundation and generation, among the most challenging topics to investigate from a mechanistic standpoint.

This is the second volume of a series of edited books whose aim is to collect c- tributed papers within a framework that can serve as a collection of persons in MMS (Mechanism and Machine Science). This is a continuation of the first volume that was published in 2008, again combining very ancient and very recent scholars in order to give not only an encyclopaedic character to this project but also to emphasize the significance of MMS over time. This project has the characteristic that the papers illustrate, by recognizing p- sons and their scientific work, mainly technical developments in the historical evolution of the fields that today are grouped in MMS. Thus, emphasis is also given to biographical notes describing efforts and experiences of people who have c- tributed to the technical achievements whose technical survey is the core of each contributed paper. This second volume of the project has been possible thanks to the invited authors who have enthusiastically shared in this initiative and who have spent time and effort in preparing the papers. The stand-alone papers cover the wide field of the History of Mechanical Engineering with specific focus on MMS. I believe that readers will take advantage of the papers in this book and future ones by supplying further satisfaction and motivation for her or his work (historical or not).

Kinetic studies of enzyme action provide powerful insights into the underlying mechanisms of catalysis and regulation. These approaches are equally useful in examining the action of newly discovered enzymes and therapeutic agents. Contemporary Enzyme Kinetics and Mechanism, Second Edition presents key articles from Volumes 63, 64, 87, 249, 308 and 354 of Methods in Enzymology. The chapters describe the most essential and widely applied strategies. A set of exercises and problems is included to facilitate mastery of these topics. The book will aid the reader to design, execute, and analyze kinetic experiments on enzymes. Its emphasis on enzyme inhibition will also make it attractive to pharmacologists and pharmaceutical chemists interested in rational drug design.Of the seventeen chapters presented in this new edition, ten did not previously appear in the first edition. Transient kinetic approaches to enzyme mechanisms Designing initial rate enzyme assay Deriving initial velocity and isotope exchange rate equations Plotting and statistical methods for analyzing rate data Cooperativity in enzyme function Reversible enzyme inhibitors as mechanistic probes Transition-state and multisubstrate inhibitors Affinity labeling to probe enzyme structure and function Mechanism-based enzyme inactivators Isotope exchange methods for elucidating enzymatic catalysis Kinetic isotope effects in enzyme catalysis Site-directed mutagenesis in studies of enzyme catalysis