Waubonsee Community College

Physics and biology, from molecules to life, edited by Jean-François Allemand, Ecole Normale Supérieure, France, Pierre Desbiolles, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France

eng

Includes bibliographical references

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Physics and biology

bibliography

877808961

edited by Jean-François Allemand, Ecole Normale Supérieure, France, Pierre Desbiolles, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France

from molecules to life

Do you often lose your keys? You will find in this book the best strategy to find them, or at least the one deduced from statistical physics. What is the link with biology? Some proteins use the same strategy to find their target inside a living cell. This example illustrates one of the many links between physics and biology. These links result from an intense from an intense research activity in the past years at the interface between those two disciplines. This book describes some of the most recent progresses at this interface: from instrumental progresses used in biology to the mechanical description of a cell, to molecular motors, from brain activity mechanisms to auditory or sensory perception. Many fields are covered from the molecular scale to the organ level. A few biological notions are presented in the first chapter that may help to access the biological aspects of the others. In the end this book may interest people passionate in science, from the simple amateur to the advanced researcher level. -- from back cover

Preface -- Some biology basic principles -- Fluorescence microscopy for biological imaging -- Mechanical studies on single molecules: general considerations -- Molecular motors -- Cellular mechanics and motility -- Exploring neuronal activity with photons -- Physical principles of hearing -- Sensing through friction: the biomechanics of texture perception in rodents and primates -- Intermittent search strategies