Book Description
Biophysics - the science of physical principles of life itself, of biological systems - is presented here not merely as physics for biologists, but as an entirely independent subject with its own innate network of ideas and approaches. From the microscopic forces that constitute life, the intramolecular bonds and ionic interactions, to the macroscopic forces of the environment, temperature and pressure, the author presents and explains all aspects of life from a Biophysicist's point of view. Exciting biological themes such as neuronal processing and differentiation as well as current medical and environmental topics are introduced from a surprising perspective in this imaginative new textbook. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

good introductory work
This is a very thoroughly written introductory work for biophysics, an area where it is very difficult indeed to find intro-level textbooks.

Both biologists and physicists will find many new things worth exploring, and this book will certainly provide the basics for further research and study. It isn't the ten volume all-you-will-ever-want-to-know-about-biophysics, but whichever area You are starting to work with, from membrane transport to biomechanics, have a look at this book first.

Excellent starting for Biophysics
This book is written by a biologist. However, the author discussed lots of physics topics closely related to basic biological phenomena. The most important role of this book, I believe, is making the bridge between physics and biology as well as biochemistry. Untill now, most of biophyiscs text books have been a kind of biochemsitry text book like ones. This one is distingusihed from those. This is also good for biochemistry student who wants to study physical aspects of biological system beyond the scope of biochemistry. Some parts of this book might be difficult for biology and biochemistry students but surely deserves to be read. ... Read more

Book Description
Our knowledge of biological macromolecules and their interactions is based on the application of physical methods, ranging from classical thermodynamics to recently developed techniques for the detection and manipulation of single molecules. These methods, which include mass spectrometry, hydrodynamics, microscopy, diffraction and crystallography, electron microscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and nuclear magnetic resonance, are complementary; each has its specific advantages and limitations. Organised by method, this textbook provides descriptions and examples of applications for the key physical methods in modern biology. It is an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate students of molecular biophysics in science and medical schools, as well as research scientists looking for an introduction to techniques beyond their specialty. As appropriate for this interdisciplinary field, the book includes short asides to explain physics aspects to biologists and biology aspects to physicists. ... Read more

Book Description
Providing advanced undergraduate and graduate students with a foundation in the basic concepts of biophysics, students who have taken physical chemistry and calculus courses will find this book an accessible and valuable aid in learning how these concepts can be used in biological research. The text provides a rigorous treatment of the fundamental theories in biophysics and illustrates their application with examples including protein folding, enzyme catalysis and ion channel permeation.Through these examples, students will gain an understanding of the general importance and broad applicability of biophysical principles to biological problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Biophysics
This is a well written text book for students and researchers teaching basic concepts of biophysics. Especially biological membranes are dealed with comprehensively. The figures are easy to understand and the price is rather low. Actually it is the best book of this kind I encountered. It can be highly recommended.

Very inclusive graduate level text
This book is aimed at providing the advanced undergraduate student or beginning graduate student a solid foundation in the basic concepts of molecular and cellular biophysics. I would suggest that this course be given prerequisites in physical chemistry and a very solid math background.

To cover the math background the author has added six appendicies to the book covering: expansions and series, matrix algebra, Fourier analysis, gaussian integrals, hyperbolic functions, polar and spherical coordinates. All of this is covered in only 16 pages. You would have to be a lot better than I was to learn Fourier analysis in only four pages. In undergraduate school I had full semester course in Fourier analysis, and it was by no means the first math class that I took. Perhaps I was just slower than today's students. But in my mind learning all this math from the appendicies while studing the rest of the material in this book would be asking a lot of an undergraduate student.

More important than the math, the author says, is having some knowledge of physical chemistry to include thermodynamics, kinetics, and statistical mechanics. And finally he assumes that the student has had some exposure to biochemistry.

Having gotten that out of the way, the central theme of the book is of course what it says in the title. This is an excellent and very inclusive text. The author ranges far and wide to bring up as many different aspects of biophysics as possible. It is very current in its coverage of material on subjects not found in other texts. ... Read more

Book Description
This book presents the fundamentals of molecular biophysics, and highlights the connection between molecules and biological phenomena, making it an important text across a variety of science disciplines.

The topics covered in the book include:

• Phase transitions that occur in biosystems (protein crystallisation, globule-coil transition etc)
• Liquid crystallinity as an example of the delicate range of partially ordered phases found with biological molecules
• How molecules move and propel themselves at the cellular level
• The general features of self-assembly with examples from proteins
• The phase behaviour of DNA

... Read more

Book Description
This newly revised and updated edition of Radiation Biophysics provides an in-depth description of the physics and chemistry of radiation and its effects on biological systems. Coverage begins with fundamental concepts of the physics of radiation and radioactivity, then progresses through the chemistry and biology of the interaction of radiation with living systems. The Second Edition of this highly praised text includes major revisions which reflect the rapid advances in the field. New material covers recent developments in the fields of carcinogenesis, DNA repair, molecular genetics, and the molecular biology of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. The book also includes extensive discussion of the practical impact of radiation on everyday life.

Key Features
* Covers the fundamentals of radiation physics in a manner that is understandable to students and professionals with a limited physics background
* Includes problem sets and exercises to aid both teachers and students
* Discusses radioactivity, internally deposited radionuclides, and dosimetry
* Analyzes the risks for occupational and non-occupational workers exposed to radiation sources ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Inadequate "Bio" in the "Biophysics"
The major book on radiation biology / radiation biophysics has been Hall's "Radiobiology for the Radiologist" now in it's 5th edition.It would be nice to have an alternative to this, particularly since that one is so weighted toward radiation oncology and radiology.Alpen's"Radiation Biophysics" (1998, 2nd ed.) tries to be a more general alternative, but it fails because of some glaring omissions and a level of biological sophistication that is at least 15-20 years out of date.Here are a few examples.

- Although the revolutions in molecular biology and in signal transduction were late in penetrating the field of radiation biology, this kind of information has made its way into other texts but it is largely absent and mishandled in Alpen's book.While p53 is pitiably mentioned (an engineer or physicist is unlikely to understand Alpen's textual description, a diagram would have been more useful to cut through the jargon), absent are important regulators like ATM, Rb, and egr-1, and a mechanistic description of how all this fits in together.
- Woefully brief and out of date is Alpen's discussion on biological modifiers of radiation sensitivity, e.g., the chemical WR2721 is described as having "limited value," citing studies from 1980, but this drug (also known as Amifostine) is in current clinical use today (2003) for radiation therapy of head & neck cancer and other tumors.In addition, missing is a decade of work on growth factors and cytokines that act as radiation protectors and radiation sensitzers.
- While other books devote an entire chapter to the "oxygen effect," Alpen devotes only couple pages to this topic, failing to discuss how hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen concentration) in tissues makes them radioresistant.
- While other books devote entire chapters to how the cell cycle influences radiation sensitivity, Alpen devotes only one and half paragraphs to this topic.
- Discussion of the biological basis of "fractionation" is totally inadequate.This is where radiation exposure is broken up a little bit at a time, in relatively small doses spread out over a longer period, rather than at a high dose all at once. The ultimate extension of this is something called "brachytheraphy" which gives local, continuous low dosing by implanting "radioactive seeds" right into a tumor.Brachytherapy has emerged as a common treatment for prostate cancer, for example.Conceptually, brachytherapy ties in several aspects of radiation biophysics, including the use of radioactive isotopes, but it is nowhere to be found in this book.

While Alpen does a reasonably good job at describing physical phenomena and at deriving equations, and the book is very well-written, the shallowness ofbiological information really hurts the overall effort.If one is interested in a book purely devoted to radiation physics, Khan's 1994"The Physics of Radiation Physics" should be considered.However, anyone interested in books that REALLY cover the biological background in great detail should get Travis' 1989 "Primer of Medical Radiobiology" which is still in its 2nd edition but is nevertheless fine for it's strong, classic biomedical emphasis (the modern stuff will undoubtedly appear in the 3rd edition, which is still in the works), or again, go to Hall's very well-rounded classic.

An excellent introduction to Radiation Biophysics
This is an excellent book which everyone interested in radiation biophysics must have have read. The book has 16 chapters. In the first 6 the emphasis is on physics. In the following 10 chapters, the models forcell survival and the effect of radiation on tissue structures andorganisms are discussed in great detail. A must for anyone interested inand trying to understand the "biological" background of radiationprotection and radiotherapy. ... Read more

Book Description

Incorporating recent dramatic advances, this textbook presents a fresh and timely introduction to modern biophysical methods. An array of new, faster and higher-power biophysical methods now enables scientists to examine the mysteries of life at a molecular level. This innovative text surveys and explains the ten key biophysical methods, including those related to biophysical nanotechnology, scanning probe microscopy, X-ray crystallography, ion mobility spectrometry, mass spectrometry, proteomics, and protein folding and structure. Incorporating much information previously unavailable in tutorial form, Nölting employs worked examples and 267 illustrations to fully detail the techniques and their underlying mechanisms. Methods in Modern Biophysics is written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, researchers, lecturers and professors in biophysics, biochemistry and related fields.

Customer Reviews (11)

Excellent source for latest biophysical methods
This book presents a review of various biophysical methods, most of them developed or significantly revised in recent years, for the use of studying biomolecules. The author illustrates each technique with lots of figures (makes me to remember the old phrase "one figure is worth more than thousand words") and also provides a good bibliography for each technique. The book also assembles the information that is hard to find from a single source. I enjoyed reading the book and recommend it for beginners as well as advanced users.

Highly recommended
I highly evaluate this book as an important contribution to biophysics. There are many students interested in this book.

Lots of novel methods!
The book presents a lot of novel methods, in particular those related to biophysical nanotechnology and microwave technologies, that cannot be found in other textbooks.

A necessary guide for biophysics/biochemistry students
This is an outstanding overview of the entire field of biophysics methods. The textbook presents the most important biophysics topics including fascinating biophysical nanotechnology and proteomics methods. The author uses lots of figures and does a marvelous job describing complex issues in fairly easy to comprehend terms. It is fun to read this book.

A fantastic textbook for Biophysics
This is a fantastic textbook on biophysics methods and techniques. I found it particularly useful for those who are theoreticians and computer modelers. As a theoretical biophysicist, I work on protein folding, protein structure prediction and ligand-receptor binding studies, and I was constantly looking for a book which contains all important and up-to-date experimental methods and techniques to better understand our experimental colleagues' work. Now I found it! If you are also looking for a book for introductory as well as advanced topics in biophysics methods, this book might be the one you are looking for. It essentially covers all the new and important subjects of this field. I found the chapters about proteomics, ion mobility spectrometry, and mass spectrometry, particularly interesting. I will try to include some of the material in the course "Biophysical Chemistry"(a graduate level course) that I am co-teaching, and I will strongly recommend this book to those who are interested in biophysics. ... Read more

Book Description
This is a concise balanced introductin to this subject. Written in an accessible and readable style, the book takes a fresh, modern approach with the author successfully combining key concepts and theory with relevant applications and examples drawn from the field as a whole.
* A carefully structured introduction to biophysics and medical physics
* Combines coverage of the basic concepts and ideas along with the more cutting edge developments
* Assumes little biological or medical knowledge
* Includes a supplementary website which will include animations, simulations, colour images, additional content, solutions and links to other sitesDownload Description
Biophysics is an evolving, multidisciplinary subject which applies physics to biological systems and promotes an understanding of their physical properties and behaviour. Biophysics: An Introduction, is a concise balanced introduction to this subject. Written in an accessible and readable style, the book takes a fresh, modern approach with the author successfully combining key concepts and theory with relevant applications and examples drawn from the field as a whole. Beginning with a brief introduction to the origins of biophysics, the book takes the reader through successive levels of complexity, from atoms to molecules, structures, systems and ultimately to the behaviour of organisms. The book also includes extensive coverage of biopolymers, biomembranes, biological energy, and nervous systems. The text not only explores basic ideas, but also discusses recent developments, such as protein folding, DNA/RNA conformations, molecular motors, optical tweezers. and the biological origins of consciousness and intelligence. Biophysics: An Introduction Is a carefully structured introduction to biological and medical physics Provides exercises at the end of each chapter to encourage student understanding: Includes a supplementary website including simulations, colour images, additional content, solutions to problems and links to other key sites. Assuming little biological or medical knowledge, this book will be invaluable to undergraduate students in physics, biophysics and medical physics. The book will also be useful for graduate students and researchers looking for a broad introduction to the subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

complete and formal introduction
it is really a well written and upto date book, with perhaps the widest coverage. ... Read more

Book Description
An overview of recent experimental and theoretical developments in the field of the physics of membranes, including new insights from the past decade.

The author uses classical thermal physics and physical chemistry to explain our current understanding of the membrane. He looks at domain and 'raft' formation, and discusses it in the context of thermal fluctuations that express themselves in heat capacity and elastic constants. Further topics are lipid-protein interactions, protein binding, and the effect of sterols and anesthetics. Many seemingly unrelated properties of membranes are shown to be intimately intertwined, leading for instance to a coupling between membrane state, domain formation and vesicular shape. This also applies to non-equilibrium phenomena like the propagation of density pulses during nerve activity.

Also included is a discussion of the application of computer simulations on membranes.
For both students and researchers of biophysics, biochemistry, physical chemistry, and soft matter physics. ... Read more

Book Description
Offering a comprehensive introduction to the molecular physics of biological systems, this book seeks to explain how the laws and concepts of physics apply to the living world at the molecular and subecellular level, with an emphasis on electrical and dynamical behavior. It is organized into
five parts: conformation of biopolymers; dynamics of biopolymers; hydration of biopolmers; biopolymers as polyelectrolytes; and association between molecules. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Strictly Molecular
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.

It is a good book for a physicist to enter biophysics field.
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.

BIOPOLYMERS A' LA CARTE
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". ... Read more

Book Description
From quantum theory to statistical mechanics, the methodologies of physics are often used to explain some of life's most complex biological problems. Exploring this challenging yet fascinating area of study, Molecular and Cellular Biophysics covers both molecular and cellular structures as well as the biophysical processes that occur in these structures. Designed for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in biophysics courses, this textbook features a quantitative approach that avoids being too abstract in its presentation.Logically organized from small-scale (molecular) to large-scale (cellular) systems, the text first defines life, discussing the scientific controversies between mechanists and vitalists, the characteristics of living things, and the evolution of life. It then delves into molecular structures, including nucleic acids, DNA, RNA, interatomic interactions, and hydrogen bonds. After looking at these smaller systems, the author probes the larger cellular structures. He examines the cytoplasm, the cytoskeleton, chromosomes, mitochondria, motor proteins, and more. The book concludes with discussions on biophysical processes, including oxidative phosphorylation, diffusion, bioenergetics, conformational transitions in proteins, vesicle transport, subcellular structure formation, and cell division. ... Read more

Product Description
Dr. Lo brings together massive scientific evidence from Japan, US, China, UK, Sweden and Germany about meridians and acupuncture. He puts it together with quantum field theory to present a unified molecular biological and quantum physical view. Lo proposes that meridians are made of a polarized media, which is likely to be water clusters. When they fall out of alignment, qi is blocked, and the body is in pain or becomes sick. Acupuncture, moxibustion and qigong can help align these water clusters. And when they do, qi flows and the body heals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

the biophysics basis for acupuncture and health
REVIEW OF "THE BIOPHYSICS BASIS FOR ACUPUNCTURE AND HEALTH," by Dr. Shin Yin Lo.

As a layman am not qualified to report on portions of this book, as it contains countless formulas and lab reports to back up the text, which will be helpful for technical readers. The other portionswere most readable, and made it a great discovery for me.

I found this book to be a most comprehensive and informative revelation. It tackles subjects such as quantum mechanics, holistic health, Oriental medicine, energy medicine, and meditation, any of which had previously caused me to buy a book on that one subject alone, and thus have consumed much of my prior reading time. Here is a book that brought these concepts together in a clear and understandable process but still left room for my imagination to find things to wonder about.

This is essentially a book about what the Chinese describe as the meridian system in the human body, how it probably works, why it is fundamental to all our other systems, thus our health, and how quantum mechanics probably fits in its function.Told in the most reasonable of ways, with clear examples to explain the concepts. References to numerous experiments are given throughout, lending a concrete scientific basis for the explanations.

Dr. Shin Yin Lo is a former Professor of Physics, having lectured at leading universities. He is also an inventor with numerous patents to his credit, an international lecturer, and an accomplished Doctor of Chinese Medicine.

Keith Van Vliet
... Read more

Book Description
Neural network research often builds on the fiction that neurons are simple linear threshold units, completely neglecting the highly dynamic and complex nature of synapses, dendrites, and voltage-dependent ionic currents. Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons challenges this notion, using richly detailed experimental and theoretical findings from cellular biophysics to explain the repertoire of computational functions available to single neurons. The author shows how individual nerve cells can multiply, integrate, or delay synaptic inputs and how information can be encoded in the voltage across the membrane, in the intracellular calcium concentration, or in the timing of individual spikes.Key topics covered include the linear cable equation; cable theory as applied to passive dendritic trees and dendritic spines; chemical and electrical synapses and how to treat them from a computational point of view; nonlinear interactions of synaptic input in passive and active dendritic trees; the Hodgkin-Huxley model of action potential generation and propagation; phase space analysis; linking stochastic ionic channels to membrane-dependent currents; calcium- and potassium-currents and their role in information processing; the role of diffusion, buffering and binding of calcium, and other messenger systems in information processing and storage; short- and long-term models of synaptic plasticity; simplified models of single cells; stochastic aspects of neuronal firing; the nature of the neuronal code; and unconventional models of sub-cellular computation.Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons serves as an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in cellular biophysics, computational neuroscience, and neural networks, and will appeal to students and professionals in neuroscience, electrical and computer engineering, and physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The Paganini of Computational Neuroscience Writes Variations on Do Re Mi
Koch's book is a tour de force - a chocolate box of biophysics with coatings of equations and melting illustrative centers. I dip into it whenever I want a sharply phrased insight, or hunger for a fact. I have only 2 quibbles. The book is unfortunately too good - the brilliance lavished on it would perhaps have been even better deployed in a frontal attack on the real problem inthe biophysics of single neuron computation: understanding how neurons can "learn" the subtle and complex higher-order correlations in their inputs. And the account of the core issue - how single synapses can be both electrically coupled to the distant spike-initiating zone (perhaps 1 mm away) and yet chemically isolated from other synapses that are less than a micron away - is oversimplified and leans too heavily on the author's own somewhat naive analyses. Koch is a genius who risks frittering away his energies on impressing his (grateful and appreciative) audience, rather than pulling the Excalibur of Mind from the Rock of Matter.

Single Neuron Computational Modeling
This is the main book, the "Bible", on single neuron and ion channel computational modeling. Plenty of theory & rigor here! Professor Koch, with CalTech, models single ion channel function, dendrite, dendrite tree function, cable theory, stocastic theories, integrate-fire model, the Poisson model, and discusses how single neurons work together inside the brain. It is worth owning both as a reference book and to use in the laboratory. Dr. Koch has written many other books, but I think this stands out as his best. Methods in Neuronal Modeling 2nd edition is also very good. Koch's writings are complementary, but are not redundant. One can read this book without a problem if you know Calculus.

How smart is a neuron?
For young scientists who are interested in understanding the dynamics of the human brain this change in collective attitude is of profound significance, to which Koch's book provides an ideal introduction.Written in a precise yet easy style, the 21 chapters of Biophysics of Computation begin at the beginning, introducing the reader to elementary electrical properties of membrane patches, linear cable theory and the properties of passive dendritic trees. These introductory chapters are followed by two on the properties of synapses and the various ways that synapses can interact to perform logic on passive dendritic trees. Then the Hodgkin-Huxley formulation for impulse propagation on a single fibre is discussed in detail, and various simplifying models are presented. As a basis for the Hodgkin-Huxley description the present
understanding of ionic channels is reviewed, emphasizing the importance of calcium currents. Further chapters discuss linearization of the H-H equations for small amplitude behavior; present a careful examination of ionic diffusion processes; and describe electrochemical properties of dendritic spines, synaptic plasticity, simple neural models, stochastic neural models and the properties of bursting cells. Just about every facet of currently available neural knowledge is touched upon, with appropriate references to a carefully selected bibliography that will help the diligent novice delve deeply into whatever aspect of neural information processing he or she chooses.

All of the above comprises an extended introduction to Chapters 17 to 19, which: `synthesize the previously learned lessons into a complete account of the events occurring in realistic dendritic trees with all of their attendant nonlinearities'. `We will see', the author writes, `that dendrites can indeed be very powerful, nontraditional computational devices, implementing a number of continuous operations.' Thus Biophysics of Computation offers a definitive statement for the direction in which the neural research of the new century should go. Chapter 20, the penultimate, discusses several speculations for non-neural computation in the brain, ranging from molecular computing below the level of a single neuron to the effects of chemical diffusants (nitric oxide, calcium ions, carbon monoxide, etc.) on large numbers of neurons. Although this entire area has been neglected by most of the neuroscience community, Koch points out that there are no good reasons for doing so. As we enter the new century, neuroscientists should keep their minds open. Finally, in the summary of Chapter 21, seven problems for future research projects are listed, emphasizing that the investigation of information processing in single neurons is very much a work in progress. It is of interest to examine these `strategic questions' as they reveal the author's intuitions about possible directions of future developments. (Note that these are not direct quotes, as I have taken the liberty of summarizing Koch's questions.)

(1) How can the operation of multiplication be implemented at the level of a single neuron?
(2) What are the sources of noise in a neural system and how does this noise influence the logical operation of a single neuron?
(3) How is the style of neural computation influenced by metabolic considerations?
(4) What is the function of the apical dendrite, which is a typical cortical structure?
(5) How and where does learning actually take place in a neural system?
(6) What are the functions of the dendritic trees, the forms of which vary so widely from neuron to neuron?
(7) How can we construct neural models that are sufficiently realistic to capture the essential functions of real neurons yet simple enough to allow large-scale computations of brain dynamics?

As these questions indicate, Koch is not merely concerned with understanding
what unusual behaviours the neuron does or might exhibit. His broad aim is to comprehend the relation between this behavioural ability and the computational tasks that the neuron is called upon to perform. In his words:

``Thinking about brain style computation requires a certain frame of mind, related to but distinctly different from that of the biophysicist. For instance, how should we think of a chemical synapse? In terms of complicated pre- and post-synaptic elements? Ionic channels? Calcium binding proteins? Or as a non-reciprocal and stochastic switching device that transmits a binary signal rapidly between two neurons and remembers its history of usage? The answer is that we must be concerned with both aspects, with biophysics as well as computation.''

This excellent book is evidently a labour of love, stemming from the author's 1982 doctoral thesis on information processing in dendritic trees. As far as I can tell all relevant aspects of neural processing are considered, with what seem to me to be just the proper amounts of emphasis. The writing style is precise and rigorous without being stuffy, and the many references to a fifty-page bibliography will be of enormous value to young researchers starting out in this field.

In addition to its obvious value for those engaged in experimental, theoretical or numerical studies of neuronal behaviour Biophysics of Computation would also work well as the text for an introductory course in neural dynamics, perhaps as part of a neuroscience program.

Alwyn Scott
http://personal.riverusers.com/~rover/

brief & comprehensive
This book attempts to integrate bits from papers & other textbooks. Incorporated in the book are all but the most oft-discussed topics in neurophysics.

We don't know much about biological neurons. We don't really understand how they perform computation. Yet we have some models, approximations of the models, and theories of how the model neurons get organized to do computation. These are summarized in this book in a breif & comprehensive manner.

Some notes: 1) Portions of the book may be found in greater detail elsewhere. 2) The book is more about biophysics than compuation.

Excellent, a good place to start
This is a fine comprehensive book.However, it might be helpful to bear in mind, as you study it, that although it was published in late 1998, a few fundamental principles presented in the early chapters were originallydeveloped a long time ago. In particular, the Hodgkin Huxley Katz pictureof the neuron was developed in the heroic period of the 1950s after theintroduction of the voltage clamp.It is a good model but it may not bethe whole story, and could change in important ways as we learn more aboutthe molecular structure of ion channels.

The possibility exists thatthe neuron is a multichannel device, a cable rather than a wire. The modelis attractive because a multichannel nerve would enable us to think as fastas we do.Because nerve impulses are so very slow moving, each successiveimpulse might,(contrary to everything we thought we knew)be rich ininformation.A multichannel neuron has the power to convey, with eachsingle all-or-nothing impulse,graded information.For example, to 20discrete channels, one can assign 20 distinct tiers of meaning, and eachchannel can thus "mean" a level of intensity between 1 and 20. The phenomenon can easily escape detection because such a neuron appears,to conventional instruments,to convey only the classically blank,binaryimpulse that is so confidently presented to us on the first page of everyneurobiology text, and in summary in this book as well.

To create acontinuous longitudinal information channel running the full length of anaxon membrane,one would simply link each ion portal to its next doorneighbor. A conformation change in one portal induces a conformation changein the next in line.A domino effect more intuitively satisfying, perhaps,than the familiar waveguide or cable models of membrane depolarizationreiterated here.

One can visualize many parallel tracks, a corduroymembrane. Possibly linear, possibly helical.Linked receptors arecommonplace. The molecular structure of the potassium channel has beenpublished recently, and so we are now finally working at the level where amultichannel membrane can be detected.It is a theoretical construct butif each single impulse carries information, then the computational burdenon the nervous system is vastly reduced, and the physiological meaning ofintensively studied structures like the synapse suddenly changes. Themeaning of several of the models presented in this book also changes, oftenin quite intriguing ways. ... Read more

Book Description
This book describes the physical microenvironment of living organisms.It presents a simplified discussion of heat and mass transfer modelsand applies them to exchange processes between organisms and theirsurroundings. Emphasis is placed on teaching the student how tocalculate actual transfer rates, rather than just studying theprinciples involved. Numerous examples are provided to illustrate manyof the principles, and problems are included at the end of eachchapter to help the student develop skills in using the equations andto gain an understanding of modern environmental biophysics.The bookis an engineering approach to environmental biology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A dense book for a complex topic
Campbell is thorough in his approach to biophysical analysis of multiple environmental scenarios.As a text book, it is fairly dense and provides hints on how to solve specific problems throughout the text.However, finding those hints is sometimes fairly tricky.The equations presented are the latest version of the equations, but some may produce skewed answers in extreme condtions.Living in interior Alaska, some of Campbell's formulas and tables just don't cut it for winter and high-latitude conditions.All in all a solid book though, despite it's initial density and sometimes insufficient clarity.

excellent and unique update in the subject
This text is an excellent companion for anybody dealing with transfers of energy and water in the biosphere, particularly at the plant-canopy level. Badly needed since the only comparable textbook is Monteith & Unsworth- a little outdated and more physically based than this one, which is morebio-oriented and includes current remote sensing use. Excellent reference,and well organized course textbook. There are some mistakes but I know of asecond edition appearing this year which will correct them. ... Read more

Book Description
Life on earth depends on the photosynthetic use of solar energy by plants, and efforts to develop alternative sources of energy include a major thrust toward the use of photosynthesis to yield fuels. The study of photosynthesis is an especially convincing way of bringing together the disciplines of physics, chemistry, and biology and can be a valuable element in the teaching of biophysics and biochemistry. This book provides the only detailed modern treatment of the subject in a concise form. Part I outlines the historical development of the subject, emphasizing the chemical nature of photosynthesis and the roles of chlorophylls and other pigments. Part II reviews our present knowledge of the structure and components of photosynthetic tissues in relation to their function. Part III deals with the photo-chemistry of photosynthesis and with the patterns of chemical events, principally electron and proton transfer, that follow the photo-chemistry. Part IV treats the relationships of electron and proton transport to ATP formation, and the metabolic patterns of carbon assimilation. An epilogue exposes major areas of confusion and ignorance and indicates potentially fruitful directions of research, including the development of photosynthetic systems for solar energy conversion. Throughout the book, there are frequent digressions into those aspects of optics and molecular physics relevant to the subject matter. Suitable for upper undergraduate and graduate course use, this book is also sufficiently detailed to give professional scientists a perspective of the subject at the level of contemporary research. ... Read more

Book Description
Chemical Biophysics provides an engineering-based approach to biochemical system analysis for graduate level courses on systems biology, computational bioengineering and molecular biophysics. It is the first textbook to apply rigorous physical chemistry principles to mathematical and computational modeling of biochemical systems for an interdisciplinary audience. The book is structured to show the student the basic biophysical concepts before applying this theory to computational modeling and analysis, building up to advanced topics and current research. Topics explored include the kinetics of nonequilibrium open biological systems, enzyme mediated reactions, metabolic networks, biological transport processes, large-scale biochemical networks and stochastic processes in biochemical systems. End-of-chapter exercises range from confidence-building calculations to computational simulation projects. ... Read more

Book Description
Cellular Biophysics is a quantitatively oriented basic physiology text for senior undergraduate and graduate students in bioengineering, biophysics, physiology, and neuroscience programs. It will also serve as a major reference work for biophysicists.

Developed from the author's notes for a course that he has taught at MIT for many years, these books provide a clear and logical explanation of the foundations of cell biophysics, teaching transport and the electrical properties of cells from a combined biological, physical, and engineering viewpoint.

Each volume contains introductory chapters that motivate the material and present it in a broad historical context. Important experimental results and methods are described. Theories are derived almost always from first principles so that students develop an understanding of not only the predictions of the theory but also its limitations. Theoretical results are compared carefully with experimental findings and new results appear throughout. There are many time-tested exercises and problems as well as extensive lists of references.

The volume on transport is unique in that no other text on this important topic develops it clearly and systematically at the student level. It explains all the principal mechanisms by which matter is transported across cellular membranes and describes the homeostatic mechanisms that allow cells to maintain their concentrations of solutes, their volume, and the potential across the membrane. Chapters are organized by individual transport mechanisms -- diffusion, osmosis, coupled solute and solvent transport, carrier-mediated transport, and ion transport (both passive and active). A final chapter discusses the interplay of all these mechanisms in cellular homeostasis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful
These texts are comprehensive and definitive. No question is left unanswered. New concepts are introduced in a clear, concise manner and all equations are derived from first principles. They are truly a pleasure to use as a student and as a teacher. ... Read more

Book Description
Using a geometric perspective, Protein Geometry, Classification, Topology, and Symmetry reviews and analyzes the structural principals of proteins with the goal of revealing the underlying regularities in their construction. It also reviews computer methods for structure analysis and the automatic comparison and classification of these structures with an analysis of the statistical significance of comparing different shapes. Following an analysis of the current state of protein classification, the authors explore more abstract geometric and topological representations, including the occurrence of knotted topologies. The book concludes with a consideration of the origin of higher-level symmetries in protein structure.The authors focus on simple geometric methods that are deterministic rather than probabilistic and on the more abstract simplifications of protein structure that allow a better understanding of the overall fold of the structure. Most of the methods described in this book have corresponding computer programs. These can be found (as C source code) at the ftp site of the Division of Mathematical Biology at the National Institute for Medical Research. This collection of ideas contains pedagogical material that make it ideal for post-graduate courses as well as new ideas and results essential for researchers investigating protein structures. ... Read more