Mysteries in Muscle Contraction

This book explores the author’s wide-ranging work on muscle research, which spans more than 50 years. It delves into the dogmas of muscle contraction: how the models were constructed and what was overlooked during the process, including their resulting shortcomings. The text stimulates general readers’ and researchers’ interest, highlights the author’s pioneering work on the electron microscopic recording of myosin head power and recovery strokes, and presents a frank discussion on how the original work sometimes tends to be overlooked by competing scientists, who hinder the progress of science.

Haruo Sugi was appointed instructor in the Department of Physiology of the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1962 and worked at Columbia University and the National Institutes of Health, USA, from 1965 to 1967. He was a professor in and chair of the Department of Physiology, Teikyo University Medical School, Japan, from 1973 to 2004, when he became emeritus professor. Prof. Sugi organized international symposia on muscle contraction six times from 1978 to 2004 and has edited three books. From 1995 to 2005, he was chair of the Muscle Commission in the International Union of Physiological Sciences.