Table of Contents

PART I: MYSTERIES, METAPHORS, MODELS.- What the Ancients Knew.- What's Inside Cells.- PART II: DIFFUSION, DISSIPATION, DRIVE.- The Molecular Dance.- Random Walks, Friction, and Diffusion.- Life in the Slow Lane: The Low Reynolds-Number World.- Entropy, Temperature, and Free Energy.- Entropic Forces at Work.- Chemical Forces and Self-Assembly.- PART III: MOLECULES, MACHINES, MECHANISMS.- Cooperative Transitions in Macromolecules.- Enzymes and Molecular Machines.- Machines in Membranes.- Nerve Impulses.- Global List of Symbols and Units.- Numerical Values.- Index.

About the Author

Philip Nelson is Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He received his A.B. from Princeton University (1980) and Ph.D. from Harvard University (1984). Professor Nelson serves on the Biophysical Society's Education Committee; he received Penn's highest teaching award in 2001, in part for creating the course that formed the basis for this book.