Overview

Full Product Details

9781737540243

Table of Contents

Reviews

For first edition: Particularly compelling for its smooth integration of biological experiments, physical models, and computational exercises. Readers who complete the text will be well equipped with the computational and mathematical skills needed for a quantitative understanding of a range of biological systems.... Thanks to Nelson's skillful writing and the excellent accompanying online resources, this book will appeal to a broad audience and teach even a beginner how to solve problems numerically. -- Eva-Maria Collins, Physics Today 2015 vol. 68 (12) pp. 56-58. 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 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, Dept of Physics & Center for Brain Science, 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, Molecular Biology, 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, Chemistry, UCLA 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, Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara

Author Information

Philip Nelson is Professor of Physics and director of the Biophysics major at the University of Pennsylvania. He has received multiple teaching awards from the University of Pennsylvania and from the Biophysical Society.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available