Roland Glaser - Böcker

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.

In its fully revised 2nd edition, this book provides the background needed for a fundamental understanding of biophysics, spanning the whole range of life from a biophysical view, from the molecular, cellular and organismic level to environmental factors.

It is common practice to publish conference papers in books or monograph series. This gives some advantage to those who did not have the opportunity to attend the meetings, but it irritates and disappoints others who may have hoped for a set of closely related reviews. With this book we have tried to find a compromise. It presents a selection from the topics which have been discussed in a series of inter­ national symposia entitled "Biophysics of Cell Surface", held in 1976, 1978, 1981, 1985 and 1988 in the GDR, and subsequently published in the journal STUDIA BIOPHYSICA (volumes 56, 74, 90, 110, 1271. Nearly all the contributors to this book participated in one or more of the meetings. We hope that our choice of topics selected for this book manages to reflect the variety and interest of the broad range of subjects which fall within the scope of membrane biophysics, without taking on the randomness of a scientific car-boot sale. We would like to express our thanks to all colleagues and organ~ isations who helped to realize the conferences and particularly this book. financial support for the symposia of 1985 and 1988 was provided by the IUPAB. A number of topics, reflected in this book, resulted in internat­ ional cooperations, supported by various organisations. We are especially grateful for the support of UNESCO research project on biophysicS in this respect. The European Bureau (ROSTE) of UNESCO supported the editorial work of this book.