Molecular Driving Forces: Statistical Thermodynamics in Chemistry & Biology [Paperback]

Ken A. Dill (Author), Sarina Bromberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0815320515 | ISBN-13: 978-0815320517 | Edition: 1

Molecular Driving Forces is an introductory statistical thermodynamics text that describes the principles and forces that drive chemical and biological processes. It shows how the complex behaviors of molecules can result from a few simple physical processes, and a central theme is how simple models can give surprisingly accurate insights into the workings of the molecular world.

Written in a clear and reader-friendly style, the book gives an excellent introduction to the subject for novices. It should be useful to those who want to develop their understanding of this important field, seeing how physical principles can be applied to the study of modern problems in the chemical, biological, and materials sciences.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A real intellectual tour de force, and a pleasure to teach from. -- David L. Beveridge, Wesleyan University

I found it very refreshing. Plausible examples are introduced at a very early stage. -- Richard Jones, University of Sheffield, UK

The examples send the reader right out of textbook land and into interesting and current problems. -- John Schellman, University of Oregon

This is the most clearly written, insightful Physical Chemistry text available. -- Terrence G. Oas, Duke University

About the Author

KEN A. DILL is Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. He received his undergraduate training at MIT, his PhD from the University of California, San Diego, and did postdoctoral work at Stanford. A leading researcher in biopolymer statistical mechanics and protein folding, he has been the President of the Biophysical Society and received the Hans Neurath Award from the Protein Society in 1998.

SARINA BROMBERG received her BFA at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, her PhD in molecular biophysics from Wesleyan University, and her postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. She writes, edits and illustrates scientific textbooks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 686 pages
• Publisher: Garland Science; 1 edition (September 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815320515
• ISBN-13: 978-0815320517
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #461,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Want to understand the physics if life? Need to read this!, August 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Molecular Driving Forces: Statistical Thermodynamics in Chemistry & Biology (Paperback)

The topic of this book, the physical chemistry of molecules, especially those relevant to biology, is one of the most challenging courses to a college student in chemist. But these authors have tried to make it easy for you - and they succeed. They used figures, pictures and analogies to help you to understand some of the most sophisticated concepts in science. For example entropy. The authors are leading researchers in the field and they brought a unique perspective to the subject; the writing is very lucid.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dill isn't just for Pickles, January 5, 2009

By 

W. Myint (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Molecular Driving Forces: Statistical Thermodynamics in Chemistry & Biology (Paperback)

I used this excellent book by Ken Dill for my stat mech class along with Chandler. Dill eases the student through the sometimes painful world of stat mech. The many examples and pictures help the understanding of material. Also, derivations are shown in baby steps so that math and physics deprived students like me can handle the material. Chandler is more eloquent but for a student unfamiliar with the material, it's way above my head at times. The two books are very complementary.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for basics on Stat Mech, December 18, 2008

By 

bianncia (Stanford, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Molecular Driving Forces: Statistical Thermodynamics in Chemistry & Biology (Paperback)

This book covers pretty much everything you need to know for a statistical mechanics class: it starts with a brush-up on statistics and necessary calculus skills and moves on to the basics of thermo and then stat mech. The authors are excellent writers and make the text almost entertaining (compared to other textbooks in my field). In my case, the only part that wasn't useful was the lack of coverage on the Ising Model. Problems are great for reviewing for tests as well. I used this book for my chem eng grad school class and found it helpful for untangling the mess of derivations and equations in my notes into something more meaningful.