Physics of life : the physicist's road to biology / / by Clas Blomberg

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910969108303321
• Autore: Blomberg Clas
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Amsterdam ; ; London, : Elsevier, 2007
• ISBN: 9786611076979; 9780080555645; 0080555640; 9781281076977; 128107697X; 9780080554648; 0080554644
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (437 p.)
• Disciplina: 571.4
• Soggetti: Biophysics; Physics
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front Cover; Physics of Life: The Physicist's Road to Biology; Copyright Page; Contents; Preface; Part I: General introduction; Chapter 1. Introduction: the aim and the scope of the book; Chapter 2. The physics of life: physics at several levels; Part II: The physics basis; Chapter 3. Concepts and numerical reference; 3A Numerical values; Chapter 4. Basics of classical (Newtonian) dynamics; Chapter 5. Electricity: the core of reductionism basis; 5A General electrostatics; 5B Formalism of electrostatics*; 5C Magnetism; 5D Relations between electric and magnetic fields: Maxwell's equations*; 5E Radiation Chapter 6. Quantum mechanics; 6A The thermodynamic path to quantum mechanics; 6B Basic principles of quantum mechanics; 6C The hydrogen atom*; 6D The strange features of quantum mechanics; Chapter 7. Basic thermodynamics: introduction; 7A Thermodynamic concepts; 7B Energy and entropy; 7C The second law of thermodynamics; 7D Free energies and chemical potential; Chapter 8. Statistical thermodynamics; 8A Basic assumption and statistical entropy; 8B Energy distribution*; 8C More on micro- and macrostates; ; Part III: The general trends and objects; Chapter 9. Some trends in 20th century physics Chapter 10. From the simple equilibrium to the complex; Chapter 11. Theoretical physics models: important analogies; Chapter 12. The biological molecules; 12A General properties of proteins and amino acids; 12B Sugars; 12C Nucleic acids; 12D The genetic code; 12E Energy-storing substances; 12F Lipids: membranes; Chapter 13. What is life?; Part IV: Going further with thermodynamics; Chapter 14. Thermodynamics formalism and examples: Combinatorial expressions and Stirling's formula; 14A General formalism: energy concepts; 14B Mixing entropy; 14C Water: solubility 14D Formalism of mixing and solutions*; 14E Chemical thermodynamics*; 14F Non-equilibrium thermodynamics*; Chapter 15. Examples of entropy and order/disorder; 15A Shuffling cards; 15B The monkey library and DNA; 15C Order and disorder; 15D The relation to the second law; Chapter 16. Statistical thermodynamics models; 16A Magnetic analogies and molecule conformations; 16B Ising-type models of 1D systems*; 16C Renormalisation methods*; 16D Spin glass; Part V: Stochastic dynamics; Chapter 17. Probability concepts; 17A Examples; 17B Normal distribution: approximation of binomial distribution Chapter 18. Stochastic processes; 18A Introduction: general account; 18B Terminology and formal basis; 18C Ergodicity in biology; Chapter 19. Random walk*; 19A Formalism; 19B Absorbing and reflecting boundaries; 19C First passage time; 19D Non-intersecting random walk; Chapter 20. Step processes: master equations*; 20A Poisson process; 20B Processes with a small number of states and constant transition probabilities; 20C Formalism: matrix method; 20D A process with constant average and extinction possibility; 20E Birth-death process with extinction
• Sommario/riassunto: The purpose of the book is to give a survey of the physics that is relevant for biological applications, and also to discuss what kind of biology needs physics. The book gives a broad account of basic physics, relevant for the applications and various applications from properties of proteins to processes in the cell to wider themes such as the brain, the origin of life and evolution. It also considers general questions of common interest such as reductionism, determinism and randomness, where the physics view often is misunderstood. The subtle balance between order and disorder is a repeated t