The Meaning of the Constitutive Equation

Abstract

In the biological world, atoms and molecules are organized into cells, tissues, organs, and individual organisms. We are interested in the movement of matter inside and around the organisms. At the atomic and molecular level the movement of matter must be analyzed with quantum, relativistic, and statistical mechanics. At the cellular, tissue, organ, and organism level it is usually sufficient to take Newton’s laws of motion as an axiom. The object of study of this book is at the animal, organ, tissue, and cell level. The smallest volume we shall consider contains a very large number of atoms and molecules. In these systems it is convenient to consider the material as a continuum.