Customer Reviews

Biological Physics: Energy, Information, Life

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I used Nelson's Biological Physics textbook for a graduate level reading course in physics, and found it excellent for my needs. I haven't taken a biology course since high school, and although I have researched biological systems for some time, I have had a very fuzzy view of biological physics until recently. I was skeptical of a book that claims it is appropriate for students from second year undergraduate through graduate studies, but by using the Track 2 option, and following up some of the cited papers and suggested readings I found it to be quite suitable. Also, the text was well written, and easy to follow - which is ideal for independent study.

Nelson's Biological Physics starts humbly, with a brief introduction of energy, and the size range inherent to biological systems. Using statistical and thermal physics principles, Nelson builds upon simple ideas to end the text with elegant descriptions of complex biological entities like molecular motors and ion channels. Under other circumstances such topics would frighten even the bravest physics student who has had no initiation to the biological realm of study! With little to no biology background myself, I was apprehensive about a course on biological physics, but found that Nelson usually described relevant systems and experimental methods in sufficient detail and from a perspective that appealed to me. If a topic were not described in great detail, the text generally cited additional resources - especially for more challenging topics.

The "Your turn" exercises scattered throughout the text alternated between being helpful and annoying. While useful for engaging the reader, they sometimes provide roadblocks to chapter sections and homework problems when particularly tricky. Also, I found the brief section on matrix mathematics and eigenvalues in chapter 9 inadequate. If the author assumes that readers will have a deficiency in this area, then it may prove more useful to either expand more generally on the mathematical tools described, or to develop an alternative approach to the material in this chapter. Perhaps in later editions an appendix on necessary mathematical material will be added to this text. In contrast, I appreciated the use of real experimental data in the figures throughout the text, and in many of the homework exercises as well. It provided an undeniable credibility to the work, and made the exercises seem more worthwhile, as they obviously related to actual experiments and models.

The book covers a lot of statistical and thermal physics, as necessary for a course intended for second year undergraduate and onwards. Although there was a lot of review for an upper level physics student, the examples were still interesting, and the Track 2 option provided a more in depth look at many topics, with both more challenging text sections and homework problems. The flexibility that this option (in combination with aggressive use of the suggested follow-up readings and independent use of related materials) introduces keeps the book accessible for second and third year undergraduates, while maintaining the necessary academic level for a senior undergraduate or graduate course. I would recommend this book to any student or professor, with either a biology or physics background that is interested in knowing more about biological physics.

The field of biophysics has experienced a flowering over the last several decades, with new experimental techniques (such as single molecule manipulation) providing quantitative data that allow for true tests of theoretical models. This book provides a wonderful introduction to the ideas and techniques that are now at the forefront of much of biological physics research. The previously available books are either out-of-date (Cantor & Schimmel's classic series on "Biophysical Chemistry") or are better as a reference for researchers (John Howard's useful book "Mechanics of Motor Proteins and the Cytoskeleton"). Other options for an upper level introductory class (such as Duane's book "Molecular Biophysics") are, in my opinion, not as clear or as well-organized as Nelson's book.

This is the textbook that I would use in teaching an introductory biophysics class.

Biological Physics by Philip Nelson manages to connect a physicist to relevant names and problems in biology, and a biologist to the methods and tools of physics. Either task is formidable. Philip Nelson manages it by articulating the contexts nicely, and by employing friendly language and plethora of well-thought examples. Nelson has compiled a textbook that provides both the basic concepts and the latest results from biophysics world. I would personally prefer a revision or rewrite in the way thermodynamics and statistical mechanics is introduced and conceptualized here. (For example, the concepts of high vs low quality energy, or limited space awarded to partition functions may be addressed in next revision). Physical Biochemistry by van Holde is a classic text that can be used in conjunction with this text. The book has lots of good problems that help one to become comfortable with the kind of questions that a biophysicist encounters and/or seeks to answer. All the papers cited in the examples or problems included herein have become necessary reads in their respective fields. The power of this text is fully revealed when you follow up and read those theoretical or experimental articles. As such, the book is more suitable for beginners, and the discussions seem too verbose for a physicist or engineer in me. Yet knowing how disparate the audience of this book is bound to be, I consider it to be an immensely valuable treatise.
(11 December 2007)

This text is well put together, concise where one should be for a Biophysics book, and with plenty of great back of the envelop calculations. If you are looking for a true physicist approach to this very new and broad field, get this text.

The book is a clear survey of statistical physics applied to biology, discussing how organisms use molecular machines driven by chemical differences in contrast to more familiar machines driven by temperature differences. The book is mainly self-contained in both the physics and biology, and provides interesting connections between those fields. Particularly helpful is using osmosis as a major example throughout the text to connect physical ideas with processes inside cells. Although assuming readers are comfortable with calculus, chapters have big picture summaries and examples so the key ideas are not lost among the derivations.

The book helpfully connects abstract theory with experiments, particularly extending derivations to the the point of reaching experimentally measurable quantities, as for example in relating dissipation and fluctuations. These discussions show how statistical physics applies to biological machines described qualitatively in more introductory books such as Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People.

The publisher web site for the book, including errata, is only available to instructors. This limits independent study with the book. There is some nonstandard notation and definition, such as for chemical potential and avoiding partial derivatives. While these are mentioned in the text when first introduced, they could be confusing to readers who skip to later chapters.

excelent book for physics and also for biological students - mix biological view with theoretical physics, math and bio-models, good didactic, photos and organization.

I used this book to teach biophysics. It's well written and clear. It's also fairly complete and frankly charming. And unlike many books in biological science, it is light enough to lift with a few fingers, and so it's easy to hold, read, and flip through.

The only drawback that I saw is that the author wrote for too broad an audience. The text is aimed both at students who are afraid of mathematics and at physics majors, and so the arguments do not use the devices of mathematical physics that make it easier for physics students to understand derivations. Extra sections appear at the end of chapters that add advanced material for physics majors. I was quite amazed at how well the author could derive many results without the use of mathematics. These derivations are however much easier to follow when phrased in their natural mathematical language. The author should consider splitting the book into a version for biology majors and a version for physics majors.

the book gives a physical basis of science and how to understand it using layman examples and experiments.

This is a solid book on physics as applied to biological situations. It does not break new ground but does cover in one place topics that should be familiar to anyone studying quantitative biology. As a researcher, I would have liked to see more applications to problems that students are facing today. But overall, this is a worthwhile book.

Despite being a text book, I actually read this cover to cover. It's well written and interesting. Lots of great detail.