Quantum physics provides the concepts and their mathematical formalization that lend themselves to describe important properties of biological networks topology, such as vulnerability to external stress and their dynamic response to changing physiological conditions. A theory of networks enhanced with mathematical concepts and tools of quantum physics opens a new area of biological physics, the one of systems biological physics.

This book presents an extensive treatment of the introduction of modern physical concepts into biology. In particular, the concept of coherence finds wide applications and yields novel results in context with multiple problems as they arise in biology: these include long range resonant cellular effects and resonant interactions of biological tissues with low intensity electro-magnetic radiation. Extensive experimental support of the theoretical concept is presented.

This book, first published in 2005, is a discussion for advanced physics students of how to use physics to model biological systems.

Theory of ferroelectric behaviour of barium titanate. Use of stochastic methods in line broadening problems. Theory of dirty superconductors.

Today, courses on biophysics are taught in almost all universities in the world, often in separate biophysics departments or divisions. This reflects the enormous growth of the field, even though the problem of its formal definition remains unsettled. In spite of this lack of definition, biophysics, which can be considered as an amalgamation of the biological and the physical sciences, is recognized as a major scientific activity that has led to spectacular developments in biology. It has increased our knowledge of biological systems to such an extent that even industrial and commercial interests are now beginning to put their stamps on biological research. A major part of these developments took place during the last two decades. Therefore, an introductory textbook on biophysics that was published a dozen years ago (c. Sybesma, An Introduction to Biophysics, Academic Press, 1977) no longer could fulfil " ... the need for a comprehensive but elementary textbook ... -" (R. Cammack, Nature 272 (1978), 96). However, because of the increased proliferation of biophysics into higher education, the need for introductory course texts on biophysics is stronger than ever. This fact, together with valuable comments of many readers, have encouraged me to revise the original book.

The Physical Foundation of Biology: An Analytical Study offers a detailed account of the relationship between physics and biology. The discussion is based on a threefold development in theoretical science: the theory of automata (often designated as computers); the theory of information (mainly developed in communication engineering); and the theory of microscopic measurement in the atomic and molecular domain (based largely on quantum mechanics). This book is comprised of five chapters and begins with an overview of the physical foundation of biology, paying particular attention to preformationism and the theory of epigenesis. The first chapter explores feedback and control by comparing the control apparatus of a more differentiated organism, the nervous system, with the corresponding achievements of electronic engineering. The reader is then introduced to the theory of information, focusing on the idea that certain quantitative aspects of the information content of messages can be separated from the specific physical features of the device sending the message. The following chapters deal with the importance of storage or memory devices for a complex functional mechanism; the compatibility of biotonic laws with the ordinary laws of physics; and physical interpretation of the theory of microscopic processes. This monograph will be of interest to physicists, biologists, and chemists.

This book aims to cover a broad range of topics in statistical physics, including statistical mechanics (equilibrium and non-equilibrium), soft matter and fluid physics, for applications to biological phenomena at both cellular and macromolecular levels. It is intended to be a graduate level textbook, but can also be addressed to the interested senior level undergraduate. The book is written also for those involved in research on biological systems or soft matter based on physics, particularly on statistical physics. Typical statistical physics courses cover ideal gases (classical and quantum) and interacting units of simple structures. In contrast, even simple biological fluids are solutions of macromolecules, the structures of which are very complex. The goal of this book to fill this wide gap by providing appropriate content as well as by explaining the theoretical method that typifies good modeling, namely, the method of coarse-grained descriptions that extract the most salient features emerging at mesoscopic scales. The major topics covered in this book include thermodynamics, equilibrium statistical mechanics, soft matter physics of polymers and membranes, non-equilibrium statistical physics covering stochastic processes, transport phenomena and hydrodynamics. Generic methods and theories are described with detailed derivations, followed by applications and examples in biology. The book aims to help the readers build, systematically and coherently through basic principles, their own understanding of nonspecific concepts and theoretical methods, which they may be able to apply to a broader class of biological problems.