Overview

"This textbook helps students develop many of the competencies that form the basis of the MCAT2015. The only prerequisite for this is first-year physics. With the more advanced ""Track-2"" sections at the end of each chapter, the book can be used in graduate-level courses as well. Written for intermediate-level undergraduates pursuing any science or engineering major, Physical Models of Living Systems, gives students the research skills they require but are often left unaddressed in traditional courses. Skills such as basic modeling, probabilistic modeling and data analysis methods. All of these basic skills, which are relevant to nearly any field of science or engineering, are presented in the context of case studies from living systems. This living systems include virus dynamics, bacterial genetics, statistical inference and synthetic biology."

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9781464140297

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Reviews

There is growing interest in quantitative biology and biological physics, driven in part by the rising popularity of synthetic biology and systems biology. However, the development of educational materials has not kept pace with this emerging interest. Phil Nelson s marvelous new book nicely fills this gap and will serve as a fantastic resource for the field.... The writing style is clear and accessible, and the examples and homework problems have been carefully designed and presented to enable students to become proficient in key concepts and principles at the interface of physics and molecular biology.... Students and professors alike will love this book. James J. Collins, Biological Engineering, MIT The strong thematic unity of the proposed book is a major strength. What students are most stunned and amazed by is how a handful of basic mathematical concepts (e.g., Poisson statistics, Bayes rules) can be used to understand myriad problems at many levels. Nelson s book communicates these key concepts in a very engaging way. Choice of topic, strong thematic unity, and lucidness are its major strengths. Aravinthan Samuel, Harvard University. . . . I love the combination of real data along with the simplified mathematical modeling. This is exactly the kind of thoughtful back-and-forth between the real world and the modeling world that I try to inculcate in my own students. Ned Wingreen, Princeton University This text is beautifully written. It succeeds by presenting a clear and coherent point of view: It is essential to develop quantitative, testable models of biological phenomena and these models are based on the basic physical foundations of nature which are essential for understanding living systems and for developing the modern tools used to investigate their structure and dynamics. Alex Levine, University of California, Los Angeles Excellent conversational tone that Nelson has perfected over time . . . . Excellent mixtures of physical and biological examples, with enough technical content that students can appreciate and understand the biology, but without the jargon and details that often prevent abstract concepts from being easily understood - Illustrations and problems for students are great. Megan Valentine, University of California, Santa Barbara This is just the book that one needs to explain to students that mathematical modeling is useful in biology and that just a few mathematical concepts are behind the explosive growth of the biological understanding of the recent years. The interplay between models and experimental data throughout the book is great, and the emphasis on computational solutions with Matlab, with progressing difficulty, allow one to take a complete computer novice into the class. Ilya Nemenman, Physics, Emory University

There is growing interest in quantitative biology and biological physics, driven in part by the rising popularity of synthetic biology and systems biology. However, the development of educational materials has not kept pace with this emerging interest. Phil Nelson's marvelous new book nicely fills this gap and will serve as a fantastic resource for the field.... The writing style is clear and accessible, and the examples and homework problems have been carefully designed and presented to enable students to become proficient in key concepts and principles at the interface of physics and molecular biology.... Students and professors alike will love this book. -- James J. Collins, Biological Engineering, MIT The strong thematic unity of the proposed book is a major strength. What students are most stunned and amazed by is how a handful of basic mathematical concepts (e.g., Poisson statistics, Bayes rules) can be used to understand myriad problems at many levels. Nelson's book communicates these key concepts in a very engaging way. Choice of topic, strong thematic unity, and lucidness are its major strengths. -- Aravinthan Samuel, Harvard University . . . . I love the combination of real data along with the simplified mathematical modeling. This is exactly the kind of thoughtful back-and-forth between the real world and the modeling world that I try to inculcate in my own students. -- Ned Wingreen, Princeton University This text is beautifully written. It succeeds by presenting a clear and coherent point of view: It is essential to develop quantitative, testable models of biological phenomena and these models are based on the basic physical foundations of nature which are essential for understanding living systems and for developing the modern tools used to investigate their structure and dynamics. -- Alex Levine, University of California, Los Angeles Excellent conversational tone that Nelson has perfected over time . . . . Excellent mixtures of physical and biological examples, with enough technical content that students can appreciate and understand the biology, but without the jargon and details that often prevent abstract concepts from being easily understood - Illustrations and problems for students are great. -- Megan Valentine, University of California, Santa Barbara This is just the book that one needs to explain to students that mathematical modeling is useful in biology and that just a few mathematical concepts are behind the explosive growth of the biological understanding of the recent years. The interplay between models and experimental data throughout the book is great, and the emphasis on computational solutions with Matlab, with progressing difficulty, allow one to take a complete computer novice into the class. -- Ilya Nemenman, Physics, Emory University

There is growing interest in quantitative biology and biological physics, driven in part by the rising popularity of synthetic biology and systems biology. However, the development of educational materials has not kept pace with this emerging interest. Phil Nelson s marvelous new book nicely fills this gap and will serve as a fantastic resource for the field.... The writing style is clear and accessible, and the examples and homework problems have been carefully designed and presented to enable students to become proficient in key concepts and principles at the interface of physics and molecular biology.... Students and professors alike will love this book. <i>James J. Collins, Biological Engineering, MIT</i> The strong thematic unity of the proposed book is a major strength. What students are most stunned and amazed by is how a handful of basic mathematical concepts (e.g., Poisson statistics, Bayes rules) can be used to understand myriad problems at many levels. Nelson s book communicates these key concepts in a very engaging way. Choice of topic, strong thematic unity, and lucidness are its major strengths. <i>Aravinthan Samuel, Harvard University</i></p>. . . . I love the combination of real data along with the simplified mathematical modeling. This is exactly the kind of thoughtful back-and-forth between the real world and the modeling world that I try to inculcate in my own students. <i>Ned Wingreen, Princeton University</i></p> This text is beautifully written. It succeeds by presenting a clear and coherent point of view: It is essential to develop quantitative, testable models of biological phenomena and these models are based on the basic physical foundations of nature which are essential for understanding living systems and for developing the modern tools used to investigate their structure and dynamics. <i>Alex Levine, University of California, Los Angeles</i></p> Excellent conversational tone that Nelson has perfected over time . . . . Excellent mixtures of physical and biological examples, with enough technical content that students can appreciate and understand the biology, but without the jargon and details that often prevent abstract concepts from being easily understood - Illustrations and problems for students are great. <i>Megan Valentine, University of California, Santa Barbara</i></p> This is just the book that one needs to explain to students that mathematical modeling is useful in biology and that just a few mathematical concepts are behind the explosive growth of the biological understanding of the recent years. The interplay between models and experimental data throughout the book is great, and the emphasis on computational solutions with Matlab, with progressing difficulty, allow one to take a complete computer novice into the class. <i>Ilya Nemenman, Physics, Emory University</i>

Author Information

Philip Nelson is Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his A.B. from Princeton University (1980) and Ph.D. from Harvard University (1984). Dr. Nelson serves on the Biophysical Society’s Education Committee; he received Penn’s highest teaching award in 2001, in part for creating the course that formed the basis for this book. Dr. Nelson was recently elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

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