Overview
- Authors:
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Valerica Raicu
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University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA
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Aurel Popescu
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University of Bucharest, Romania
- Builds on previously acquired knowledge of standard physics to keep focus on biophysics problems
- Blends in classical as well as modern topics in biophysics research
- Introduces the reader to new mathematical and physical methods
- Includes essential notions of biology and biochemistry for self consistency
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Back Matter
Pages 219-250
About this book
Biophysics represents perhaps one of the best examples of interdisciplinary research areas, where concepts and methods from disciplines such as physics, biology, b- chemistry, colloid chemistry, and physiology are integrated. It is by no means a new ?eld of study and has actually been around, initially as quantitative physiology and partly as colloid science, for over a hundred years. For a long time, biophysics has been taught and practiced as a research discipline mostly in medical schools and life sciences departments, and excellent biophysics textbooks have been published that are targeted at a biologically literate audience. With a few exceptions, it is only relatively recently that biophysics has started to be recognized as a physical science and integrated into physics departments’ curr- ula, sometimes under the new name of biological physics. In this period of cryst- lization and possible rede?nition of biophysics, there still exists some uncertainty as to what biophysics might actually represent. A particular tendency among phy- cists is to associate biophysics research with the development of powerful new te- niques that should eventually be used not by physicists to study physical processes in living matter, but by biologists in their biological investigations. There is value in that judgment, and excellent books have been published that introduce the int- ested reader to the use of physical principles for the development of new methods of investigation in life sciences.
Reviews
From the reviews:
“The book by Raicu and Popescu is coming precisely … to facilitate a clear and unitary understanding of the biophysics as a ‘standalone’ science within the broader family of physical sciences. This is, in my opinion, what makes this book so special and its publication so timely. … can be relevant to a very broad audience, from college students to experienced researchers. … I … enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone interested in biophysics, either for research or teaching purposes (or both).” (A.S. Carstea, Romanian Reports in Physics, Vol. 61 (3), 2009)
Authors and Affiliations
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University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA
Valerica Raicu
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University of Bucharest, Romania
Aurel Popescu
