Customer Reviews

Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Begins with the necessary physics and vector calculus. Steps logically and clearly through the physics of diffusing ions in solution separated by membranes. Presents classic Hodgkin-Huxley formulation and develops analytic and computer models of excitable axon. Covers basics of ECG and heart vector rotation. All exercises in the book focus on extension of topics and experimentation. Written for the engineer/scientist at the senior undergrad level.

I think this book has the potential to be successful. It's fairly well written with explanations that are usually clear, even to persons with minimal biological background. However, it suffers tremendously from the errors that pervade each chapter. From the trivial errors such as misspellings and significant errors like incorrect formulae, it seems that nobody bothered to proofread this edition of the book (3rd). Derivations also tend to be rather difficult to follow, either due to errors, unclear assumptions, or mislabeled or missing equations. I suspect that much of the book was scanned and edited from the previous edition since there are numerous typos that are substitutions of similar looking letters (e.g. I->l). Even worse, many of the original figures in the book are awfully unclear, confusing the subject rather than clarifying it. In many graphs, axis are missing labels and captions are no more helpful. Many of the figures look like they were drawn in MS Word. All in all, a disappointing textbook, especially for a 3rd edition.

This book is next only to "From Neuron to Brain" to understand Neuroscience Basics. It covers a bunch of other topics other than Neuroscience. Worth a reading!