With growing connections between physics and the life sciences, this text introduces the terminology and the biological systems physicists encounter. It sets out the dynamics of complex systems, and provides a problem-solving challenge from the literature.

This text provides an introduction to the structure and function of biomolecules especially proteins and the tools used to investigate them. Biomolecules obey the same laws of physics as their constituent atoms, but their complexity introduces properties and behavior not found in simpler systems, including beautiful and subtle properties exploited by living systems. The text focuses on physical tools and properties, highlighting techniques that contribute to new developments. New tools appear regularly: synchrotron radiation, proton radiology, holography, optical tweezers, and muon radiography, and the book shows how these contribute to a richer understanding of biomolecules.

The discussion concentrates on physical tools and properties, emphasizing techniques that are contributing to new developments and avoiding those that are already well established and whose results have already been exploited fully New tools appear regularly synchrotron radiation, proton radiology, holography, optical tweezers, and muon radiography, for example, have all been used to open new areas of understanding Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

A leader in physics research for more than half a century, Hans Frauenfelder spent 40 years as a professor and researcher at the University of Illinois before moving on to Los Alamos Laboratory, where he was the director of the Center for Nonlinear Studies and is now a Laboratory Fellow. Frauenfelder has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Academy Leopoldina and the American Philosophical Society. He also is the recipient of numerous prestigious scientific fellowships and honors.

Inhalt
Biomolecules.- The Hierarchy of Living Things.- Information and Function.- Biomolecules, Spin Glasses, Glasses, and Solids (R. H. Austin1).- Proteins.- Nucleic Acids.- The Genetic Code.- Lipids and Membranes.- Spatial structure of proteins: measure-.- The Secondary Structure.- Tertiary Structure of Proteins.- Myoglobin and Hemoglobin.- The energy landscape and dynamics of.- Conformational Substates.- The Organization of the Energy Landscape.- Reaction Theory.- Supercooled Liquids and Glasses.- Function and dynamics.- Protein Dynamics.- Protein Quantum Dynamics? (R. H. Austin1).- Creative Homework: Dynamics and Function.- Appendices: tools and concepts for the.- Chemical Forces.- Acids and Bases for Physicists.- Thermodynamics for Physicists.- Quantum Chemistry for Physicists.- Energy Levels from Nuclei to Proteins.- Interaction of Radiation with Molecules.- Water (R. H. Austin1).- Scattering of Photons: X-Ray Diffraction.- Electronic Excitations.- Vibrations.- The Nucleus as a Probe (C. E. Schulz1).- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Molecular Structure Dynamics (R. H. Austin1).- Neutron Diffraction.