Biophysics – the science of physical principles of life itself, of biological systems – is presented here not merely as physics for biologists, but as an entirely independent subject with its own innate network of ideas and approaches. From the microscopic forces that constitute life, the intramolecular bonds and ionic interactions, to the macroscopic forces of the environment, temperature and pressure, the author presents and explains all aspects of life from a Biophysicist’s point of view. Exciting biological themes such as neuronal processing and differentiation as well as current medical and environmental topics are introduced from a surprising perspective in this imaginative new textbook.

Biophysics, being an interdisciplinary topic, is of great importance in modern biology. This book addresses the needs of biologists, biochemists, and medical biophysicists for an introduction to the subject. The text is based on a one-semester course offered to graduate students of life sciences, and covers a wide range of topics from quantum mechanics to pre-biotic evolution. To understand the topics, only basic school level mathematics is required. The first chapter introduces and refreshes the reader’s knowledge of physics and chemistry. The next chapters cover various physico-chemical techniques used to study biomolecular structures, followed by treatments of spectroscopy, microscopy, diffraction, and computational techniques. X-ray crystallography and NMR are dealt with in greater detail. The latter half of the book covers results obtained from applications of the above techniques. Some of the other topics dealt with are energy pathways, biomechanics, and neuro-biophysics.