The Physical Basis of Biochemistry: The Foundations of Molecular Biophysics

by Peter R. Bergethon

Overview

Biological chemistry has changed since the completion of the human genome project. There is a renewed interest and market for individuals trained in biophysical chemistry and molecular biophysics. The Physical Basis of Biochemistry, Second Edition, emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of biophysical chemistry by incorporating the quantitative perspective of the physical sciences without sacrificing the complexity and diversity of the biological systems, applies physical and chemical principles to the understanding of the biology of cells and explores the explosive developments in the area of genomics, and in turn, proteomics, bioinformatics, and computational and visualization technologies that have occurred in the past seven years. The book features problem sets and examples, clear illustrations, and extensive appendixes that provide additional information on related topics in mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441963246
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	09/10/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

Table of Contents

Principles of Biophysical Inquiry.- Introduction: To the Student – First Edition.- Philosophy and Practice of Biophysical Study.- Overview of the Biological System Under Study.- Physical Thoughts, Biological Systems – The Application of Modeling Principles to Understanding Biological Systems.- Probability and Statistics.- Foundations.- Energy and Force – The Prime Observables.- Biophysical Forces in Molecular Systems.- Physical Principles: Quantum Mechanics.- Chemical Principles.- Measuring the Energy of a System: Energetics and the First Law of Thermodynamics.- Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics.- Which Way Is That System Going? The Gibbs Free Energy.- The Thermodynamics of Phase Equilibria.- Building a Model of Biomolecular Structure.- Water: A Unique Solvent and Vital Component of Life.- Ion–Solvent Interactions.- Ion–Ion Interactions.- Lipids in Aqueous Solution.- Macromolecules in Solution.- Molecular Modeling – Mapping Biochemical State Space.- The Electrified Interphase.- Function and Action Biological State Space.- Transport – A Non-equilibrium Process.- Flow in a Chemical Potential Field: Diffusion.- Flow in an Electric Field: Conduction.- Forces Across Membranes.- Kinetics – Chemical Kinetics.- Dynamic Bioelectrochemistry – Charge Transfer in Biological Systems.- Methods for the Measuring Structure and Function.- Separation and Characterization of Biomolecules Based on Macroscopic Properties.- Analysis of Molecular Structure with Electronic Spectroscopy.- Molecular Structure from Scattering Phenomena.- Analysis of Structure – Microscopy.- Epilogue.- Physical Constants.