Applied mechanics is the branch of science concerned with the motion of any substance that can be experienced or perceived by humans without the help of instruments.
[3][4] Connecting research between numerous disciplines, applied mechanics plays an important role in both science and engineering.
[4] Within the practical sciences, applied mechanics is useful in formulating new ideas and theories, discovering and interpreting phenomena, and developing experimental and computational tools.
[6] Research in applied mechanics can be directly linked to biomedical engineering areas of interest like orthopaedics; biomechanics; human body motion analysis; soft tissue modelling of muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage; biofluid mechanics; and dynamic systems, performance enhancement, and optimal control.
One of the earliest works to define applied mechanics as its own discipline was the three volume Handbuch der Mechanik written by German physicist and engineer Franz Josef Gerstner.
[1] In 1921 Austrian scientist Richard von Mises started the Journal of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (Zeitschrift für Angewante Mathematik und Mechanik) and in 1922 with German scientist Ludwig Prandtl founded the Society of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (Gesellschaft für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik).
[1] In 1924 the first meeting of the International Congress of Applied Mechanics was held in Delft, the Netherlands attended by more than 200 scientist from around the world.
[10] Timoshenko authored thirteen textbooks in applied mechanics, many considered the gold standard in their fields; he also founded the Applied Mechanics Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1927 and is considered “America’s Father of Engineering Mechanics.”[10] In 1930 Theodore von Kármán left Germany and became the first director of the Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology; von Kármán would later co-found the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1944.
[1] With the leadership of Timoshenko and von Kármán, the influx of talent from Europe, and the rapid growth of the aeronautical and defense industries, applied mechanics became a mature discipline in the U.S. by 1950.
[3] It is the "divide and rule" strategy developed by Newton that helped to govern motion and split it into dynamics or statics.