The objective of this book is to provide a unifying approach to the study of biophysical chemistry for the advanced undergraduate who has had a year of physics, organic chem istry, calculus, and biology. This book began as a revised edition of Biophysical Chemistry: Molecules to Membranes, which Elizabeth Simons and I coauthored. That short volume was written in an attempt to provide a concise text for a one-semester course in biophysical chemistry at the graduate level. The experience of teaching biophysical chemistry to bi ologically oriented students over the last decade has made it clear that the subject requires a more fundamental text that unifies the many threads of modem science: physics, chem istry, biology, mathematics, and statistics. This book represents that effort. This volume is not a treatment of modem biophysical chemistry with its rich history and many contro versies, although a book on that topic is also needed. The Physical Basis of Biochemistry is an introduction to the philosophy and practice of an interdisciplinary field in which biological systems are explored using the quantitative perspective of the physical scientist. I have three primary objectives in this volume: one, to provide a unifying picture of the interdisciplinary threads from which the tapestry of biophysical studies is woven; two, to provide an insight into the power of the modeling approach to scientific investigation; and three, to communicate a sense of excitement for the activity and wholesome argument that characterize this field of study.

advanced undergraduate/beginning graduate level students and would be applied to courses focusing on three different areas: Foundations of molecular biophysics Macromolecular structure and assembly Methods in physical biochemistry

It is highly probable that the ability to distinguish between living and nonliving objects was already well developed in early prehuman animals. Cognizance of the difference between these two classes of objects, long a part of human knowledge, led naturally to the division of science into two categories: physics and chemistry on the one hand and biology on the other. So deep was this belief in the separateness of physics and biology that, as late as the early nineteenth century, many biologists still believed in vitalism, according to which living phenomena fall outside the confines of the laws of physics. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that Carl Ludwig, Hermann von Helmholz, Emil DuBois-Reymond, and Ernst von Briicke inaugurated a physicochem ical approach to physiology in which it was recognized clearly that one set of laws must govern the properties and behavior of all matter, living and nonliving . . The task of a biologist is like trying to solve a gigantic multidimensional crossword fill in the right physical concepts at the right places. The biologist depends on puzzle: to the maturation of the science of physics much as the crossword solver depends on a large and correct vocabulary. The solver of crossword puzzles needs not just a good vocabulary but a special vocabulary. Words like inee and oke are vitally useful to him but are not part of the vocabulary of an English professor.

Table of Contents Preface. I. MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS. 1. Biological Macromolecules. 2. Thermodynamic Principles. 3. Molecular Thermodynamics. 4. Statistical Mechanics. 5. Methods for the Separation and Characterization of Macromolecules. 6. X-Ray Diffraction. 7. Scattering from Solutions of Macromolecules. II. SPECTROSCOPY 8. Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy. 9. Absorption Spectroscopy. 10. Linear and Circular Dichroism. 11. Emission Spectroscopy. 12. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. III. SOLUTION BEHAVIOR OF MACROMOLECULES. 13. Macromolecules in Solution: Thermodynamics and Equilibria. 14. Thermodynamics of Transport Processes. 15. Chemical Equilibria Involving Macromolecules. Solutions to Odd-Numbered Exercises. Index.

"As will be seen, there is not much missing here. I thought that the sections were well balanced, with rarely too much or too little on a given topic...This is a text to be welcomed by both teachers and students." BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION (on the first edition) The second edition of this successful textbook explains the basic principles behind the key techniques currently used in the modern biochemical laboratory and describes the pros and cons of each technique and compares one to another. It is non-mathematical, comprehensive and approachable for students who are not physical chemists. A major update of this comprehensive, accessible introduction to physical biochemistry. Includes two new chapters on proteomics and bioinformatics. Introduces experimental approaches with a minimum of mathematics and numerous practical examples. Provides a bibliography at the end of each chapter. Written by an author with many years teaching and research experience, this text is a must-have for students of biochemistry, biophysics, molecular and life sciences and food science.

This book is for readers who do not specialize in biochemistry but who require a strong grasp of biochemical principles. The goal of this book is to enrich the coverage of chemistry while better highlighting the biological context. Once concepts and problem-solving skills have been mastered, readers are prepared to tackle the complexities of science, modern life, and their chosen professions.

Protobiology as a physics of becoming emphasizes the dynamics underlying conservation laws, whereas the physics of being emphasize the dynamics presupposing conservation laws. Protobiology thus concerns itself with a convoluted problem of how both the law of motion and its boundary conditions develop with time without forgetting that these two are inseparable, in contrasts to the physics of being that assumes separability.