Biophysics for Beginners (Second Edition)

“The book by Helmut Schiessel is a welcome timely addition to the growing but still badly insufficient literature on modern biological physics. This field of science is traditionally difficult for students and teachers alike: students lack either knowledge of physics or background in biology, or both. The attractive feature of the book is that it is self-contained: it starts with a concise description of the main ideas and facts of molecular biology and then continues to introduce the main concepts of statistical physics and polymer physics. Both physics and biology introductions are solid enough for the student to start using these ideas. Do not miss this book!”

~Prof. Alexander Grosberg, New York University, USA

“Helmut Schiessel’s Biophysics for Beginners is an excellent text for anyone interested in understanding the workings of the cell nucleus from the perspective of physics. The book is unique in providing a deep, authoritative introduction to the physical principles that underlie our current understanding of the packaging and processing of the nucleic acids and proteins within the nucleus and in introducing the reader to key biological questions.”

~Prof. Wilma K. Olson, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, USA

“This is a most welcome book showing beautiful applications of physics to polymers in cells. It will clearly be useful as a basis to teach biophysics and more generally to all physicists interested in the properties of cells and their nucleus, and also to biologists interested in the physical properties of biopolymers.”

~Prof. Jean-François Joanny, Institut Curie, France

“Teaching an introductory course in theoretical biological physics is a major challenge. The lecturer not only needs to introduce a diverse set of theoretical concepts from different areas of physics, but also needs to provide a thorough introduction to molecular biology and a broad set of examples of how to apply the physics concepts to biological systems. This textbook does all of this in a well-balanced mix. It will be an excellent choice both as course material and for self-study.”

~Prof. Ulrich Gerland, University of Munich (LMU), Germany