The Physical Basis of Biochemistry

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.

Grounds students in the basic principles of biochemistry and molecular biophysics

PREFACEPART I: Principles of Biophysical InquiryChapter 1Introduction: "To the Student"Chapter 2Philosophy and Practice of Biophysical StudyChapter 3Overview of the Biological System Under Study - Descriptive ModelsChapter 4Physical Thoughts, Biological Systems - The application of modeling principles to understanding biological systemsChapter 5Probability and StatisticsPART II: FoundationsChapter 6Physical Principles: Energy - The Prime ObservableChapter 7Biophysical Forces in Molecular SystemsChapter 8An Introduction to Quantum MechanicsChapter 9Chemical PrinciplesChapter 10Measuring the Energy of a System: Energetics and the First Law of ThermodynamicsChapter 11Entropy and the Second Law of ThermodynamicsChapter 12Which Way Did That System Go? The Gibbs Free EnergyChapter 13The Thermodynamics of Phase EquilibriaPART III: Building a Model of Biomolecular StructureChapter 14Water: A Unique Structure, A Unique SolventChapter 15Ion-Solvent InteractionsChapter 16Ion-Ion InteractionsChapter 17Lipids in Aqueous SolutionChapter 18Macromolecules in SolutionChapter 19Molecular Modeling - Mapping Biochemical State SpaceChapter 20The Electrified InterphasePART IV: Function and Action Biological State SpaceChapter 21Transport and Kinetics: Processes Not at EquilibriumChapter 22Flow in a Chemical Potential Field: DiffusionChapter 23Flow in an Electrical Field: ConductionChapter 24Forces Across MembranesChapter 25Kinetics - Chemical KineticsChapter 26Bioelectrochemistry - Charge Transfer in Biological SystemsPART V: Methods for the Measuring Structure and FunctionChapter 27Separation and Characterization of Biomolecules Based on Macroscopic Properties (with Kristin E. Bergethon)Chapter 28Determining Structure by molecular interactions with photons: Electronic Spectroscopy (with Kristin Bergethon)Chapter 29Determining Structure by molecular interactions with photons: ScatteringPhenomenaChapter 30Analysis of Structure - MicroscopyChapter 31EpilogueChapter 32Physical ConstantsPART VI: APPENDICESAppendix AReview of Mathematical MethodsAppendix BQuantum ElectrodynamicsAppendix CThe Pre-Socratic Roots of Modern ScienceAppendix DThe Poisson FunctionAppendix EAssumptions of a Kinetic Theory of Ideal Gas BehaviorAppendix FDetermination of a Field from the PotentialAppendix GGeometric OpticsAppendix HThe Compton EffectAppendix IHamilton's Principle of Least Action/Fermat's Principle of Least TimeAppendix JEnergy of Interaction between ionsAppendix KDerivation of the Statement, Qrev > QirrevAppendix LDerivation of the Clausius-Clapeyron EquationAppendix MDerivation of the van't Hoff Equation for Osmotic PressureAppendix NPseudoforcesAppendix OWork of charging and discharging a rigid sphereAppendix PReview of Electrical CircuitsAppendix QFermi's Golden RuleAppendix RAdiabatic vs non-Adiabatic processes