Molecular Biophysics: Structures in Motion [Hardcover]

Michel Daune (Author), W. J. Duffin (Translator), David Blow (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198577834 | ISBN-13: 978-0198577836 | Publication Date: April 1, 1999

This new textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to the molecular physics of biological systems: it seeks to explain how the laws and concepts of physics apply to the living world at the molecular and subcellular level, with an emphasis on electrical and dynamical behaviour. The book is organized into five parts: * conformation of biopolymers * dynamics of biopolymers * hydration of biopolymers * biopolymers as polyelectrolytes *association between molecules The author adopts a multi-disciplinary approach and limits mathematics only to what is strictly necessary for the development of the subject. The text should be suitable for students from a wide range of backgrounds in biology, physics or chemistry taking advanced courses in molecular biophysics or biophysical chemistry. This book is intended for advanced undergraduates or graduate students taking courses in biophysics, physical biochemistry, and molecular biophysics. Also, researchers and instructors in these fields.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About the Author

Michel Daune is Honorary Professor, University of Strasbourg, France, and was formerly Director of the Centre for Molecular Biophysics, Orleans

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198577834
• ISBN-13: 978-0198577836
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,543,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BIOPOLYMERS A' LA CARTE, November 24, 2002

By 

Pichierri Fabio (Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Molecular Biophysics: Structures in Motion (Paperback)

This is a very comprehensive book (about 500 pages!) dealing with the molecular physics of biopolymers. It is divided in five parts, namely (I.) Conformation of biopolymers, (II.) Dynamics of biopolymers, (III.) Hydration of biopolymers, (IV.) Biopolymers as polyelectrolytes, and (V.) Association between molecules, along with a 20-pages mathematical appendix. At the end of each part you will find a 1-page conclusion and 1-2 pages of references and material for further reading. Each referenced paper is provided with its full, original title, thereby simplifying the selection process. Important topics and/or proofs of mathematical formulae and models are given in dark boxes throughout the book. This facilitates both reading and learning. A note about figures. Graphs are clear and look good but the same cannot be said about most of the figures displaying molecular structures. This, perhaps, is due to the fact that several figures have been reprinted from the original papers. Also, the book does not contain colored figures. This, in general, is not a big problem exept when a calculated property such as the electrostatic potential is being depicted (see, for example Fig. 19.7 at p. 370). For this reason I rated this book with four stars only. In summary, Professor Daune has done a good job and his book could be well used in teaching an advanced course of molecular biophysics, perhaps complemented with Dr. Glaser's "Biophysics".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strictly Molecular, February 19, 2006

By 

Kenneth L Pilgreen "temporalhorn" (Jacksonville, AL United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Molecular Biophysics: Structures in Motion (Paperback)

I find this book useful from the perspective of the title of the review. It is not a general biophysics book. It even lacks to a degree in the above field, e.g., a general treatment of the biophysics of electrophoresis or centrifugation; these are very important topics that often receive scant coverage and I usually give my own coverage in the 1st general (algebra/trig) College Physics course based on treatment from my original Biophysics notes from graduate school and Barrow's Physical Chemistry text's excellent coverage (centrifugation). This would be quite appropriate in such a book which is heavily weighted toward molecular topics. I find this book quite complementary with Glaser's book "Biophysics", which is an excellent translation from the original German (Deutch) plus some new material, which also has only black and white illustrations (this is not a drawback). I do not have the privilege of teaching a course in Biophysics, but do use materials from these books in teaching General Physics to Pre-Professional and Biology Majors as well as my Special Topics Course in Neurophysics with the latter having no suitable text for its particular audience. I do, however, recommend this text to those with a good thermodynamics (chemical physics or physical chemistry) background and interest in pursuing study of the molecular biophysics of nucleic acids, in particular. Hopefully, future editions will have treatments of more proteins such as the various collagens (I specifically have looked for these) and keratin, among others.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It is a good book for a physicist to enter biophysics field., September 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Molecular Biophysics: Structures in Motion (Paperback)

The book almost covers all aspects in biophysics field. The description in text is very physical, and it is very suitful for researchers with physical background to enter biophysics field.

Due to its wide covering, the content of the book is not so valuable for a advanced biophysicist.