Most routine motor tasks are complex involving load transmission through out the body
intricate balance and eye-head-shoulder-hand-torso-leg coor dination. The quest toward
understanding how we perform such tasks with skill and grace often in the presence of
unpredictable perturbations has a long history. This book arose from the Ninth Engineering
Foundation Con ference on Biomechanics and Neural Control of Movement held in Deer Creek
Ohio in June 1996. This unique conference which has met every 2 to 4 years since the late
1960s is well known for its informal format that promotes high-level up-to-date discussions
on the key issues in the field. The intent is to capture the high quality ofthe knowledge and
discourse that is an integral part of this conference series. The book is organized into ten
sections. Section I provides a brief intro duction to the terminology and conceptual
foundations of the field of move ment science it is intended primarily for students. All but
two of the re maining nine sections share a common format: (l) a designated section editor
(2) an introductory didactic chapter solicited from recognized lead ers and (3) three to six
state-of-the-art perspective chapters. Some per spective chapters are followed by commentaries
by selected experts that provide balance and insight. Section VI is the largest section and it
con sists of nine perspective chapters without commentaries.
