Random Walks in Biology [Paperback]

Howard C. Berg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691000646 | ISBN-13: 978-0691000640 | Publication Date: September 7, 1993 | Edition: Revised

This book is a lucid, straightforward introduction to the concepts and techniques of statistical physics that students of biology, biochemistry, and biophysics must know. It provides a sound basis for understanding random motions of molecules, subcellular particles, or cells, or of processes that depend on such motion or are markedly affected by it. Readers do not need to understand thermodynamics in order to acquire a knowledge of the physics involved in diffusion, sedimentation, electrophoresis, chromatography, and cell motility--subjects that become lively and immediate when the author discusses them in terms of random walks of individual particles.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A scholarly and pedagogically masterly introduction to diffusion, its physics and its statistics. -- Charles DeLisi, Nature



I very strongly recommend this excellent book to students as a supplementary textbook in courses on biochemistry, physiology, and biophysics. Moreover, research scientists and scholars should enjoy reading it. -- Akira Okubo, The Quarterly Review of Biology

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; Revised edition (September 7, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691000646
• ISBN-13: 978-0691000640
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biophysics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Source Book on Random Walk Maths - Easy Read, May 29, 2005

By 

X42 (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Random Walks in Biology (Paperback)

I bought this book in 1995 to get an understanding of random walk phenomena.
The random walk equations are mostly biologically based.
That is equations that describe the motion of biological things.

Type of things covered ( including but not limited to)
Ficks equations
Diffusion
Drift
drag
Diffusion at Equilibrium
Derivation of Boltzman equation
Importance of KT
Mean Square Velocity
Einstien-Scmoluchowski relation

Flagellar propulsion
Motility of Escherichia Coli
Probability Distributions (Gaussian , Binomial , Poisson)

etc

The book is a fairly easy read.
You'll need at least high school to uni maths background.
The maths is fairly practical stuff ( translatable to s/w code )

There are plenty of graphs and diagrams.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An easy, enjoyable read!, October 2, 2005

By 

Vivek Sharma "Kavi" (Cambridge / Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Random Walks in Biology (Paperback)

Random walks in Biology explains concepts of diffusion driven processes in a lucid, intuitive and didactic fashion. The approach lacks mathematical rigor, but abounds in examples to incite interest in one and all. For physicists, this book offers a delightful peek into biophysical processes where their mathematical skills and knowledge of random processes can be utilized and tested. For biologists and chemists, the book presents an erudite route to understanding how these random processes, diffusion and fluctuations influence function and design of biological contrusts.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too expensive, April 15, 2011

By 

J. R. G. Mendonca (SP, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Random Walks in Biology (Paperback)

This book intertwines the physics and the mathematics of basic diffusion phenomena within a biology setting in a very well balanced manner. As such, it may appeal to the biology/biochemistry/biophysics student interested in the role of diffusion phenomena in biology, including chemotaxis and bacterial motility. No doubt this little book has its value. Howard Berg is an authority in the subject, a member of learned societies, and teaches at Harvard.

However, I found the book a little meagre for its price. You can find similar material intended for the same audience for free on the internet. Moreover---perhaps due to its age, most probably deliberately---, the text does not discuss the role of stochasticity in biology in general, an important topic in modern molecular and cell biology. Definitely does not worth the dollars. I read an exemplar from the local library---with much profit---, but would buy it only if its price were half the current price tag ($32), at maximum.