With this book as their guide, readers will discover how to design better protective equipment and devices such as helmets, seat belts, and wheelchairs in order to minimize the risk or the extent of injury to people subjected to impact loads. It is based on the theory of optimal shock isolation, first developed in the 1950s to protect missile systems from intensive shock loads.

Using examples from automotive, aviation, and military areas, the authors demonstrate how optimal shock isolation theory enables designers to improve the performance of protective equipment by incorporating control...