Customer Reviews

Cellular Biophysics, Vol. 2: Electrical Properties

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

 

 

This is a mathematical cell neurophysiology tour de force which gives the most up to date information on the cable equations. Anyone doing research on that small area will find an enormous wealth of information here. It is good as a reference text on cable equation derivations. The book is based on lectures given by Thomas Weiss at MIT in Biophysics. It was a tough course I am sure. This book is for serious mathematical neuroscientists.

Many books claim to be self-contained. A typical self-contained book usually has an appendix and breifly discusses some mathematical preliminaries, etc. that seldom helps a genuine beginner. A typical ``self-contained book'' is also somewhat thin to incorporate all the necessary background.

This is a THICK volume.

And, wow, this book shows you step-by-step how to get a solution of the cable equation. To be quite honest the approach was not entirely satisfactory nor is there any attempt to go beyond the passive membrane. However, I found many precious pieces that you cannot find in any other books. The only drawback is, I believe, this book is too thorough for a beginner. Nonetheless it makes a good reference book.

For derivations of the cable equation and single-channel models, this book is unmatched. On the down-side, the coverage of related experimental neurobiology is quite dated.