This is a comprehensive and accessible overview of what is known about the structure and mechanics of bone, bones, and teeth. In it, John Currey incorporates critical new concepts and findings from the two decades of research since the publication of his highly regarded The Mechanical Adaptations of Bones. Crucially, Currey shows how bone structure and bone's mechanical properties are intimately bound up with each other and how the mechanical properties of the material interact with the structure of whole bones to produce an adapted structure. For bone tissue, the book discusses stiffness, strength, viscoelasticity, fatigue, and fracture mechanics properties. For whole bones, subjects dealt with include buckling, the optimum hollowness of long bones, impact fracture, and properties of cancellous bone. The effects of mineralization on stiffness and toughness and the role of microcracking in the fracture process receive particular attention. As a zoologist, Currey views bone and bones as solutions to the design problems that vertebrates have faced during their evolution and throughout the book considers what bones have been adapted to do. He covers the full range of bones and bony tissues, as well as dentin and enamel, and uses both human and non-human examples. Copiously illustrated, engagingly written, and assuming little in the way of prior knowledge or mathematical background, Bones is both an ideal introduction to the field and also a reference sure to be frequently consulted by practicing researchers.

Table of Contents:
Preface to the Second Edition xi Preface to the First Edition xiii Introduction 1 CHAPTER ONE: The Structure of Bone Tissue 3 1.1 Bone at the Molecular Level 4 1.2 The Cells of Bone 11 1.3 Woven and Lamellar Bone 12 1.4 Fibrolamellar and Haversian Bone 14 1.5 Primary and Secondary Bone 20 1.6 Compact and Cancellous Bone 21 1.7 A Summary of Mammalian Bone Structure 24 1.8 Nonmammalian Bone 25 CHAPTER TWO: The Mechanical Properties of Materials 27 2.1 What Is Bone For? 27 2.2 Mechanical Properties of Stiff Materials 28 2.2.1 Stress, Strain, and Their Relationship 29 2.2.2 Anisotropy 37 2.2.3 Viscoelasticity 40 2.2.4 Modes of Loading 41 2.2.5 Fracture and Toughness 42 2.2.6 Fracture Mechanics 49 2.2.7 Creep Rupture 51 2.2.8 Fatigue Fracture 51 CHAPTER THREE: The Mechanical Properties of Bone 54 3.1 Elastic Properties 54 3.1.1 Orientation Effects 55 3.1.2 Strain Rate Effects 57 3.2 Strength 58 3.2.1 Orientation Effects 60 3.2.2 Strain Rate Effects 61 3.2.3 Modes of Loading 62 3.3 Inferring Bone Material Properties from Whole Bone Behavior 62 3.4 Fracture Mechanics Properties 64 3.5 Creep Rupture 67 3.6 Fatigue Fracture 69 3.7 Modeling and Explaining Elastic Behavior 74 3.8 Modeling Fracture in Tension 82 3.8.1 The Effects of Stress Concentrations 82 3.8.2 The Effects of Remodeling 86 3.8.3 Anisotropy in Fracture 88 3.9 Fracture of Bone in Compression 91 3.10 Fracture of Bone in Bending 93 3.11 Mechanical Properties of Haversian Systems 99 3.12 Cancellous Bone 104 3.13 Bone as a Composite 104 3.14 Microdamage 110 3.14.1 Microcracking Phenomena 110 3.14.2 The Mechanical Effects of Microcracking 112 3.15 Strain Rate, Creep, and Fatigue: Pulling the Threads Together 117 3.16 Fracture in Bone: Conclusions 122 CHAPTER FOUR: The Adaptation of Mechanical Properties to Different Functions 124 4.1 Properties of Bone with Different Functions 124 4.2 A General Survey of Properties 129 4.3 Mesoplodon Rostrum: A Puzzle 137 4.4 Property Changes in Ontogeny 138 CHAPTER FIVE: Cancellous Bone 146 5.1 Mechanical Properties of Cancellous Bone Material 146 5.2 Mechanical Properties of Cancellous Bone Tissue 150 5.3 Functions of Cancellous Bone 158 5.3.1 Principal Stresses 159 5.3.2 Arrangement of Trabeculae in Cancellous Bone 162 5.3.3 Joins Between Trabeculae 167 5.3.4 Energy Absorption of Cancellous bone 168 5.3.5 Cancellous Bone in Sandwiches and in Short Bones 170 5.3.6 Cancellous Bone in Tuberosities 170 5.3.7 Medullary Bone 170 5.3.8 The Size of Trabeculae 171 5.3.9 Cancellous Bone with No Compact Bone 172 5.4 Conclusion 173 CHAPTER SIX: The Properties of Allied Tissues 174 6.1 Calcified Cartilage 174 6.2 Collagenous Tissues of Teeth 176 6.2.1 Cement 176 6.2.2 Dentin 177 6.2.3 Narwhal Dentin 180 6.3 Enamel 183 6.4 Fish Scales 191 6.5 Dentin vs. Bone 191 CHAPTER SEVEN: The Shapes of Bones 194 7.1 Shapes of Whole Bones 194 7.2 Designing for Minimum Mass 196 7.3 Long Bones 197 7.3.1 Why Are Long Bones Hollow? 197 7.3.2 How Hollow Should Bones Be? 199 7.3.3 How Stiff Should Bones Be? 210 7.4 Flat or Short Bones with Cancellous Bone 212 7.4.1 Sandwich Bones 212 7.4.2 Short Bones 217 7.4.3 Synergy Between Cortical and Cancellous Bone 219 7.5 Paying for Strength with Mass 220 7.5.1 Minimum Mass of Compact Bone Material 220 7.5.2 Minimum Mass of Cancellous Bone 224 7.6 The Swollen Ends of Long Bones 225 7.7 Euler Buckling 231 7.8 Interactions Between Bone Architecture and Bone Material Properties 236 7.9 The Mechanical Importance of Marrow Fat 239 7.10 Methods of Analyzing Stresses and Strains in Whole Bones 241 7.11 Conclusion 243 CHAPTER EIGHT: Articulations 245 8.1 The Synovial Joint 247 8.2 The Elbow 248 8.3 The Swelling of Bones Under Synovial Joints 254 8.4 Intervertebral Disks 261 8.5 Sutures 262 8.6 Epiphyseal Plates 263 8.7 Joints in General 268 8.8 Conclusion 271 CHAPTER NINE: Bones, Tendons, and Muscles 272 9.1 Tendons 273 9.2 Sesamoids and Ossified Tendons 277 9.3 Attachment of Tendons to Bone 280 9.4 Muscles Produce Bending Stresses in Bones 283 9.5 Why Do Tendons Run Close to Joints? 285 9.6 Muscles as Stabilizing Devices 294 9.7 Curvature of Long Bones and Pauwels' Analyses 294 9.8 Skeletons in General 299 9.8.1 Pelvic and Pectoral Girdles 300 9.8.2 Limbs 301 9.8.3 Fusion and Loss of Bones 302 9.8.4 The Vertebral Column 304 9.8.5 The Skull 307 9.9 Conclusion 307 CHAPTER TEN: Safety Factors and Scaling Effects in Bones 309 10.1 Safety Factors 309 10.2 Size and Shape 327 10.2.1 Scaling 327 10.2.2 Elastic Similarity 329 10.2.3 Geometric Similarity 331 10.3 Conclusion 336 CHAPTER ELEVEN: Modeling and Reconstruction 337 11.1 The Need for Feedback Control 337 11.2 What Do We Need to Know? 341 11.3 Classic Experiments 343 11.4 The Nature of the Signal 345 11.4.1 Electrical Effects 345 11.4.2 Direct Measurement of Strain 349 11.5 How Does Bone Respond to the Signal? 350 11.6 Postclassical Experiments 354 11.7 In Search of the Algorithm 357 11.8 Precision of Response 364 11.9 Modeling of Cancellous Bone 367 11.10 The Functions of Internal Remodeling 368 11.10.1 Removing Dead Bone 369 11.10.2 Improving the Blood Supply 370 11.10.3 Mineral Homeostasis 371 11.10.4 Changing the Grain 372 11.10.5 Taking out Microcracks 374 11.10.6 It's a Pathological Mistake 377 11.11 Bone Cell Biology 378 11.12 Conclusion 378 CHAPTER TWELVE: Summing up 380 References 381 Index 425