University Libraries Promotion and Tenure Recognition

Principles of Animal Design is a collection of papers covering the question of whether animals are “optimized” to their life conditions. The topic of optimization in biological design was controversial at the time of the book’s printing, and remains controversial (and relevant) today. Principles of Animal Design came out the year I was applying to graduate school. I took it out of the library and read it cover to cover. It was the single body of work that most impacted my interest in biomechanics and animal locomotion. I was hooked! Hopefully this book can influence future biologists and biomechanists interested in questions of biological form and function: Why are animals, including humans, shaped the way they are? Why do they move the way they do? I still draw on this book for information and inspiration and hope others will too!