Book excerpt: This is the only single authored text on biological polymers available for bioengineering and biomedical engineering students. The book describes the structure of polymers and how these molecules are put together to make the tissues of the body and also their role in surgical implants and in structural diseases. It provides essential reading for biomedical engineers, biologists, physicians, health care professionals and other biomedical researchers who are interested in understanding how physical forces affect the biology, physiology and pathophysiology of humans. The author is an expert on the effect of mechanical forces on extracellular matrix.