A lucid and comprehensive review of developments made in the understanding of cellular activation phenomena in striated muscle. Basic physical, mathematical, and physiological principles are covered to a more coherent level than currently available in published literature. The book consistently draws correlations both with cellular and molecular biological information and their physiological consequences and significance. Accessible both as a survey of basic concepts and as an authorative review of recent work in the field.The book succeeds in explaining complex biophysics in such a way that the non-expert reader obtains insights into the molecular mechanisms of muscle activation and their control mechanisms as well as providing the expert with the detailed mathematical and experimental evidence.