Description
Book SynopsisThis is a very unusual book. It brings to the English speaking reader a masterpiece written some 50 years ago by one of the greatest minds of the 20th century--Nicholai Aleksandrovich Bernstein--considered the founder of many contemporary fields of science such as biomechanics, motor control, and physiology of activity. Divided into two parts, this volume''s first section is a translation of the Russian book
On Dexterity and Its Development. It presents, in a very reader-friendly style, Bernstein''s major ideas related to the development and control of voluntary movements in general, and to the notion of dexterity, in particular. Although very few scientific works remain interesting to the reader 50 years after they were written, this volume--now available for the first time in English--is a rare exception to this rule. His ideas are certainly not obsolete. Actually, we are just starting to grasp the depth and breadth of his thinking, especially his analysis of the complex notio
Trade Review"As Bernstein originally intended, the present volume possesses the necessary breadth and depth to appeal to movement scientists of many levels, backgrounds, and disciplines....Texts such as Bernstein's provide a welcome antidote to the growing tendency toward specialization and fragmentation that bothers present-day movement science."
—Contemporary Psychology
"This excellent book, about how movement is developed and controlled, is easy to understand and is a very practical work for biomechanics, kinesiologists, therapists, physiologists, and especially motor behaviorists. [It] presents movement control and development in practical, realistic contexts and provides excellent examples with supporting figures....should be seriously considered by all interested in human movement control. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals."
—CHOICE
Table of ContentsContents: Preface. N.A. Bernstein, Part I: On Dexterity and Its Development. Introduction. What Is Dexterity? On Motor Control. On the Origin of Movements. On the Construction of Movements. Levels of Construction of Movements. On Exercise and Motor Skill. Dexterity and Its Features. From the Author. Part II: Commentaries.I.M. Feigenberg, L.P. Latash, N.A. Bernstein: The Reformer of Neuroscience. M.L. Latash, The Bernstein Problem: How Does the Central Nervous System Make Its Choices? G.J. van Ingen Schenau, A.J. van Soest, On the Biomechanical Basis of Dexterity. M.T. Turvey, C. Carello, Dynamics of Bernstein's Level of Synergies. P.J. Beek, A.A.M. van Santvoord, Dexterity in Cascade Juggling. K.M. Newell, Change in Movement and Skill: Learning, Retention, and Transfer. E.S. Reed, B. Bril, The Primacy of Action in Development.
