6 days agoHoward Berg (1934–2021)Look up at the picture of books at the top of my blog hobbieroth.blogspot.com, showing my ideal bookshelf. You see Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology towering in the center. The small volume two books to the right of IPMB is Random Walks in Biology, by Howard Berg. Berg died…Howard Berg4 min read
Jan 14The Chain of Reason vs. the Chain of ThumbsI have written previously in this blog about my admiration for evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould and his essays published in his monthly column “This View of Life” in the magazine Natural History. Today, I focus on one of these essays, “The Chain of Reason vs. the Chain of Thumbs,”…Stephen Jay Gould3 min read
Jan 7Cells, Gels and the Engines of LifeI recently read Gerald Pollack’s book Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life: A New, Unifying Approach to Cell Function. I’ve always taken a simple, physicist’s view of a cell: salt water inside, salt water outside, with a membrane between; the membrane being where all the action is. Pollack’s perspective…Gerald Pollack6 min read
Dec 31, 2021Adrianus Kalmijn (1933–2021)Adrianus Kalmijn, a biophysicist known for his studies of electroreception in sharks, died December 7, 2021, at the age of 88. In Chapter 9 ofIntermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology, Russ Hobbie and I discuss Kalmijn’s work. Kalmijn et al. discovered that the ocean flounder generates a current dipole of…Adrianus Kalmijn4 min read
Dec 24, 2021Michael Faraday and the Royal Institution Christmas LecturesTonight is Christmas Eve. At this time of the year, I think of the great English physicist Michael Faraday giving the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Above is a famous illustration of Faraday delivering one of his talks. Below is a photo of the statue of Michael Faraday at the Royal…Michael Faraday3 min read
Dec 17, 2021Russell Hobbie (1934–2021)I am heartbroken to have to tell you that Russ Hobbie, my coauthor and friend, passed away this week, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. …Russell Hobbie9 min read
Dec 17, 2021Biology’s Built-In Faraday CagesIn Chapter 9 of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology, Russ Hobbie and I discuss how well an external electric field penetrates the human body. We examine a sinusoidally varying field, but another problem is an field that turns on suddenly and then remains constant (a step function). This case…Physics3 min read
Dec 10, 2021Physical Models of Living Systems, Second EditionIn a 2015 blog post, I discussed Philip Nelson’s then-new book Physical Models of Living Systems. I wrote that “It’s an excellent book, well written and beautifully illustrated.” Recently, Nelson published a second edition of Physical Models of Living Systems. All the nice things I wrote about the first edition…Philip Nelson5 min read
Dec 3, 2021Resource Letter BP-1: Biological PhysicsThe December, 2021 issue of the American Journal of Physics contains Resource Letter BP-1: Biological Physics (Volume 89, Pages 1071–1078), by Raghuveer Parthasarathy. A Resource Letter is a guide to the literature, websites, and other teaching aids about a particular topic. Parthasarathy’s abstract states This Resource Letter provides an overview…Raghuveer Parthasarathy3 min read
Nov 26, 2021When Death Becomes LifeIn last week’s post, I told you about a book I didn’t like. This week, I’ll tell you about one I liked. About a year ago, Russ Hobbie suggested I read When Death Becomes Life: Notes From a Transplant Surgeon, by Joshua Mezrich. Mezrich is a transplant surgeon at the…When Death Becomes Life4 min read
