Thoroughly researched using experimentation and re-examination of all previously published evidence, this book is a carefully crafted treatise and revision of previous conceptions of muscle contraction. It presents detailed descriptions of new, previously unpublished data and hybrids recent findings with the standard Huxley model. It demonstrates that traditional concepts cannot fully explain contraction and identifies flaws in the reasoning initially used to explain some results as well as alternative interpretations accounting for inconsistencies. It synthesizes past and recent findings into a new hybrid model of muscle contraction.

Introduction: Historical Account and Overview. Materials and Methods. Analysis and Characteristics of Some Major Biophysical, Enzymological and Physiological Phenomena in an Intact Unit Cell During Contraction (Isometric and Isotonic). New and Older Experimental Results and Interpretations. The General Features of the Hybrid Model. Quantitative Data and Calculations, Concerning Short Tetani Under Steady-State Isometric Contraction Conditions, Required for Quantification of the Hybrid Model. Fatigue in One Isometrically Contracting Half-Fibre from a Young Adult Frog, and in Intact and Traditionally Demembranated Fibres of Various Origins: Discussion Based Essentially on the Hybrid Model. Predictive and Explanatory Power of the Hybrid Model: Analysis of Various Problems. In Vitro Motility: Analysis of Experimental Data and Their Interpretations: Movement of Cell Organelles. General Conclusion: From Old Concepts, Old and Recent Experimental Data and Reasoning and New Experimental Results, to a Hybrid Model of Muscle Contraction. Addendum.