- Tribute to the Vitruvian Man of L. da Vinci
(by Jonas)
General limit of the flexibility of the shoulder joints
The picture demonstrates the mobility of the shoulder joints. It is taken from the chapter on "the assembly of the human machine" in Nikolai Bernstein’s introduction into biomechanics from 1926. Bernstein had been hired by Alexei Gastev, director of the Central Institute for Labor (CIT) to become head of the biomechanics department. This institute was devoted to the "scientific organization of labor", adjusting Frederic W. Taylor’s ideas of scientific management to the needs of the Soviet Union. Systematic comparison of human anatomy and physiology was supposed to help create the "new Soviet man". In 1926, when Bernstein’s manual Obshchaya Biomekhanika appeared, he had already left the CIT to work at the Institute for Psychology in Moscow. Also, he collaborated with a number of institutions according to his varied interests in motor control and its distortions.
