Methods in Molecular Biophysics: Structure, Dynamics, Function

Book Description

Our knowledge of biological macromolecules and their interactions is based on the application of physical methods, ranging from classical thermodynamics to recently developed techniques for the detection and manipulation of single molecules. These methods, which include mass spectrometry, hydrodynamics, microscopy, diffraction and crystallography, electron microscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and nuclear magnetic resonance, are complementary; each has its specific advantages and limitations. Organised by method, this textbook provides descriptions and examples of applications for the key physical methods in modern biology. It is an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate students of molecular biophysics in science and medical schools, as well as research scientists looking for an introduction to techniques beyond their specialty. As appropriate for this interdisciplinary field, the book includes short asides to explain physics aspects to biologists and biology aspects to physicists.

Physical Chemistry of Membranes: An introduction to the structure and dynamics of biological membranes

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Physical Chemistry of Membranes: An introduction to the structure and dynamics of biological membranes
B. Silver
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Principles of Protein Structure and Dynamics

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Principles of Protein Structure and Dynamics
Ken Dill
Manufacturer: Garland Science
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Binding: Paperback

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Chromatin Structure And Dynamics: State-of-the-Art (New Comprehensive Biochemistry Series)

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Chromatin Structure And Dynamics: State-of-the-Art (New Comprehensive Biochemistry Series)

Manufacturer: Elsevier Science & Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 044451595X

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions

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An Excellent, Well-Written Thesis
Informative and Entertaining
The End of the Dinosaurs
Great Little Book
End of the Dinosaurs.

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions
Charles Frankel
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521474477

Book Description

The discovery of the giant Chicxulub impact crater, buried off the coast of Mexico, unveiled the solution to one of Earth's greatest mysteries--what killed the dinosaurs. Scientists uncovered physical evidence to explain the mass extinction that rocked the Earth 65 million years ago. Step-by-step, The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions tells this great scientific detective story. Charles Frankel recounts the birth of the cosmic hypothesis, which holds that the crash of a meteor on the Earth's surface killed two-thirds of life and all the dinosaurs. He first provides a dramatic account of the impact and its aftermath. Frankel then goes on to detail the controversy that preceded the acceptance of the cosmic hypothesis, the search for the crater, its discovery and ongoing exploration, and the effect of the giant impact on the biosphere. In addition, he reviews other mass extinctions in the fossil record and the threat of asteroids and comets to our planet today. More than 70 photographs and diagrams enhance and help illustrate the material. Filled with drama and interesting science, The End of the Dinosaurs will readily appeal to both the general reader fascinated with the subject and the specialist always searching for more clues to this great mystery. Charles Frankel has written a number of articles on the earth sciences in books and magazines. His many books include Volcanoes of the Solar System (Cambridge University Press 1996).

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent, Well-Written Thesis.......2007-07-11

Charles Frankel's book "The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions" is a well-written, thoroughly researched thesis on the theory of a meteor impact that resulted in the mass extinctions of dinosaurs and other species 65 million years ago.

The author requires no prior knowledge of geology, astronomy, archeology, or paleontology. Instead, he carefully outlines all of the accumulated scientific evidence from these fields of science and presents a convincing argument in support of the impact theory as the cause of the mass extinctions documented in the fossil record. He also presents opposing theories and his arguments against them. The book is nicely illustrated with interesting photographs that supplement the salient points of each chapter.

The book is an easy read, especially for a scientific thesis, and is constructed concisely and intuitively, without the repetitiveness often suffered in similar non-fiction works. I enjoyed reading it on vacation in the Caribbean where I was delighted to be able to spot, in some exposed cliffs, the K-T geologic boundary the author describes so well!

I later shared the book with my 14 year old son, who used the book as his primary resource for a school paper on the subject of an important historical event. My son also found the book to be fascinating, lucid, and eminently readable.

I highly recommend this outstanding work of non-fiction.

Informative and Entertaining.......2005-05-23

This book is an entertaining and informative explanation of how scientists posed the theory that an asteriod had caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous, found evidence that supported the theory, searched for the crater, and eventually linked the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatan Peninsula to the extinctions.

This book is also a wonderful illustration of how the scientific process works, what scientific controversy looks like, and how people from many different scientific disciplines can work together to advance knowledge. The author provides enough background information for the lay reader to understand the basic situation, but not so much that the reader gets bogged down in details. With a publication date of 1999, it is perhaps a bit dated, but it is well worth reading.

The End of the Dinosaurs.......2002-11-23

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions written by Charles Frankel is an account of the hunt for, finding, and the theory and controversy assoicited with the great mass extinction that rocked the Earth 65 million years ago.

This book encompasses some great detective work and recounts the birth of the cosmic hypothesis that the effects of a giant impact created on the eart's biosphere led to the exticntion of one very successful life forms on earth... dinosauria.

The descriptions of the crater geology is in terms that the layperson can understand and comprehend. This is ment to pique your interest into Earth sciences and there is and index and bibliography for further study if warrented.

What I found to be the greatest asset in reading this book is the detective work involve in finding the impact area on earth that coinsided with the correct time frame to prove that the impact of an extraterresstial source was one of the contributing factors that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

There are photos within this book that show impacts throughout the earth, but the only one that can be linked to 65 millions years ago is Chicxulub in the Northern edge of the Yucatan in Mexico. It amazes me how the geologists work and came up with this site. Iridium was only one of the clues that the geologists used to track down the date of tthe impact, but closer to the impact site there were other telltale signs.

Around the Gulf of Mexico, unusual outcrops are found at the K-T boundary. K-T stands for Late Cretaceous-Tertiary begining. In El Penon, Mexico, a thick sandstone unit is interpreted to be a catastrophic tsunami deposit, laid down by the impact. Where it is capped by a fine clay displaying a wavy pattern, thought to mark the oscilation of the current as the tsunami wave sloshed back and forth across the continental platform. When you take a cross-section of the clay you can really see the the ripple marks, making testament to the current switching directions.

From Mexico, to Haiti and around the Gulf of Mexico you see this clay layer and sandstone around the K-T boundary denoting an impact, but what really piqued my interest here was the fine of the ejecta known as spherules and tektites. Tektites are spashes of the impact melt that take on aerodynamic shapes as they spin through the Earth's atmosphere.

On a different note... why are comet more dangerous to Earth than asteroid... because of the sublimation of the ices heated by sunlight. The jets of gas act as reactors and constantly modify the comet's trajectory. Thus, making comets less predictable than asteroids.

This book takes the reader on a journey into Earth Science and shows us what can happen... fascinating what asteroids, meteorites, bolides and comets can do to the rich complexity of the biosphere, not only then, but today as well.

Great Little Book.......2002-05-27

This great little book is far more than promised by the title -- although I must admit that I grabbed it because of the title, so I can hardly fault them for picking something dinosaur oriented.

Yes, we get a history of the scientific controversies leading to the widespread acceptance of a meteorite/comet strike as the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. But there's more: the book reviews the evidence for associations between bolide strikes and all of the major mass extinctions in earth history. In prose that's clear, but not dry, Frankel reveals what we know -- and don't know -- about these events. Good illustrations and intelligent speculation round out a first-rate and quite up-to-date overview of a rapidly developing field.

One subtext of Frankel's work is how scientist adapt (and in some cases don't adapt) to new evidence. For example, the Siberian Tunguska explosion of 1908 is now widely acknowledged to have been a strike from a comet fragment, but only 20 or so years ago you could read about it primarily in UFO magazines and "mysteries of the unexplained" books. Because science lacked an explanation for it, the explosion was largely ignored.

I second the recommendation of "The Eternal Frontier."

End of the Dinosaurs........2000-04-11

So many theories of the KT extinctions have been forwarded by scientist and lay person alike that it is almost refreshing to have it come down to the confrontation between two, or a few, major theories, in this case the "impactist" and "volcanist" theories. Frankel does a fine job of presenting a balanced and fair account of the contenting theories, particularly Courtillot's Deccan Traps volcanism (for which see Evolutionary Catastrophies or my review of it) and their supporting data. He is, however, thoroughly in the impactist camp. He gives an excellent description of the astroid and of how scientists were able to work out its size, the size of its crater, and its subsequent atmospheric and environmental effects. This is probably the best of the three books (T. Rex and the Crater of Doom, Evolutionary Catastrophies, and End of the Dinosaurs) I've recently read on the subject, although all three are worth reading.

The Chemical Bond: Structure and Dynamics

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The Chemical Bond: Structure and Dynamics

Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

This inspired book by some of the most influential scientists of our time--including six Nobel laureates--chronicles our emerging understanding of the chemical bond through the last nine decades and into the future. From Pauling's early structural work using x-ray and electron diffraction to Zewail's femtosecond lasers that probe molecular dynamics in real time; from Crick's molecular biology to Rich's molecular recognition, this book explores a rich tradition of scientific heritage and accomplishment. The perspectives given by Pauling, Perutz, Rich, Crick, Porter, Polanyi, Herschbach, Zewail, and Bernstein celebrate major scientific achievements in chemistry and biology with the chemical bond playing a fundamental role. In a unique presentation that also provides some lively insights into the very nature of scientific thought and discovery, The Chemical Bond: Structure and Dynamics will be of general interest to scientists, science historians, and the scientifically inclined populous.

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Fabulous
Fascinating
Mr. Rex and his pointless facility
This subject isn't written in stone - yet
This is the one that started it all...

T. rex and the Crater of Doom
Walter Alvarez
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691016305

Amazon.com

One of the great mysteries is what happened to the dinosaurs, and it has taken great detective work to give us an answer. In T. Rex and the Crater of Doom, some brilliant, not to mention determined, scientists roam the world and seek out the clues. What they conclude is that the earth withstood a colossal impact with a meteor (or perhaps a comet) 65 million years ago. The resulting cataclysm destroyed half the life on the planet.

Walter Alvarez, a geologist at the University of California at Berkeley, and one of the four scientists who present this theory on the mystery, tells the story in a clear narrative that contains a wealth of scientific material. The book does require an investment of attention, but the presentation is quite readable, and the story itself is fascinating.

Book Description

Sixty-five million years ago, a comet or asteroid larger than Mt. Everest slammed into the Earth, causing an explosion equivalent to the detonation of a hundred million hydrogen bombs. Vaporized impactor and debris from the impact site were blasted out through the atmosphere, falling back to Earth all around the globe. Terrible environmental disasters ensued, including a giant tsunami, continent-scale wildfires, darkness, and cold, followed by sweltering greenhouse heat. When conditions returned to normal, half the genera of plants and animals on Earth had perished.

This horrific story is now widely accepted as the solution to a great scientific murder mystery what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? In T. rex and the Crater of Doom, the story of the scientific detective work that went into solving the mystery is told by geologist Walter Alvarez, one of the four Berkeley scientists who discovered the first evidence for the giant impact. It is a saga of high adventure in remote parts of the world, of patient data collection, of lonely intellectual struggle, of long periods of frustration ended by sudden breakthroughs, of intense public debate, of friendships made or lost, of the exhilaration of discovery, and of delight as a fascinating story unfolded.

Controversial and widely attacked during the 1980s, the impact theory received confirmation from the discovery of the giant impact crater it predicted, buried deep beneath younger strata at the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. The Chicxulub Crater was found by Mexican geologists in 1950 but remained almost unknown to scientists elsewhere until 1991, when it was recognized as the largest impact crater on this planet, dating precisely from the time of the great extinction sixty-five million years ago. Geology and paleontology, sciences that long held that all changes in Earth history have been calm and gradual, have now been forced to recognize the critical role played by rare but devastating catastrophes like the impact that killed the dinosaurs.

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous.......2007-05-03

Don't know what else to say. If you like geology, science, natural history, dinosaurs,... any of the above? Read it!

Fascinating.......2006-08-25

Great account of the evolution of the meteor impact theory of mass extinction. He provides a detailed account of the scientific processes involved in the discovery of the Chixulub crater and its relation to the end of the Cretaceous period. As a scientist in another field, I found it to be very informative for the lay reader (non-paleontologist/geologist, etc.).

Mr. Rex and his pointless facility.......2006-06-10

So, our temporarily old Mr. Rex sees that a book consisting entirely of combat will show you a hill that floats! Not since 1937. "In such a long time, he thinks that it really develops in circumference, which is all it will ever be." So he says, anyway. Sadly, this stuff used to be quite numerous in the market and he (the author) was different from what he says he is today, when the book is no longer being sold. How sad. This dog will cry and cry as you try to head off the exposure of this author who is far more different than you can imagine. Let him prove the contents of his own book and then let's see him leave some petal larger than itself, and maybe in some interview with temporary old Mr. Rex and his floating hill, we will see that it is time to increase the form of our philosophy, which might eventually rehabilitate objective analysis. Yes, sure, that will be the day! Then how come nobody thought to be careful in their principal object, which might be found at the very end of the book. You, along with "old" Mr. Rex, will discover this book to be indispensible if you care about profit and loss, like the author(s). Like his hill, he floats under the thought, not over it, and when he wants the growth, he extends himself laterally.

To read this book cover to cover is to be astonished about rumors of its re-publication. But, to date, the remainder piles burst any hope of a revision. The sly old dog inside the bookshop actually hopes that BallentineBooks will try to publish each one, page by page, as a "real" book made up of 256 versions of the same small page. Your risk of testing your confidence in it is minimal. As a reading device, it compares well with Dick and Jane books in terms of profit and loss or some other pointless facility. At one point he even compares gold and the chart, together. This is what he calls "being rehabilitated," and it modifies the entire thing. The critics spoke about the fact that he defends his track record as some kind of "interior research", when in fact it is a plain old criminal record, the risks of which we will all have to carry together. If he wishes to make his company legitimate, maybe this book can be in a company of one.

This subject isn't written in stone - yet .......2006-04-25

I started reading Vincent Courtillot's Evolutionary Catastrophes (volcanism) first in order to gain a handle on the mass extinction argument and found that this book challenges Walter Alvarez's book T. Rex And The Crater of Doom (comet or asteroid bombardment). Therefore, I started reading that at the same time; which got me to pull out and start skimming David Levy's Impact Jupiter (comet expert). In the meantime, I thought it prudent to start reading The Behavior of the Earth by Claude Allegre (plate tectonics), and picked up Steven Stanley's book Extinction (global climate change). Recently I saw via a Google search that Linda Elkins-Tanton now thinks that perhaps meteorite bombardment could have allowed hot magma to vent thus causing global climate change and hence the mass extinctions. This is fun!

This is the one that started it all..........2005-12-01

This is the book that started it all: Dinosaur extinction by bolide from outer space. Catastrophic tsunamis. Intercontinental ejecta layer. Geologic evidence everywhere you look once you know where to look. And the laughingstock of serious geologists everywhere until the evidence started mounting up to where it couldn't be ignored.

This is the story of Walter Alvarez and his colleagues and their careful science that yielded ideas, insights, and then, whammo! the Big Idea that there might be an external component to the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. It is a forensic mystery worthy of "CSI" except this is the real deal, and the slog work of doing research took this band of scientists all over the world in search of enlightenment. Leveraging new developments in dating techniques and the best minds in the field and out of it (did I mention that Walter Alvarez is the son of Luis Alvarez, the Nobel Award winner for physics?), the adventure is somewhat stalled until the discovery of oil company drilling cores from the Chixulub region of Mexico that confirm evidence of an impact in that region. It is an eleventh-hour discovery just as interest is waning and funding is running out - a development worthy of the "Nova" episode that it eventually became.

As much fun as it is to read mysteries, it is equally fun to read about the real-life trials and tribulations of a band of intrepid individuals who have a hypothesis and then are able to methodically test it, with startling results. One of the joys of this book is Alvarez's generosity toward those whose work supported him and propelled him forward, as well as his occasional head-scratching humility. This really isn't a vanity piece but it is a definite good read.

Neutron Scattering in Biology: Techniques and Applications (Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering) (Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering)

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Neutron Scattering in Biology: Techniques and Applications (Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering) (Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3540291083

Product Description

The advent of new neutron facilities and the improvement of existing sources and instruments world wide supply the biological community with many new opportunities in the areas of structural biology and biological physics. The present volume offers a clear description of the various neutron-scattering techniques currently being used to answer biologically relevant questions. Their utility is illustrated through examples by some of the leading researchers in the field of neutron scattering. This volume will be a reference for researchers and a step-by-step guide for young scientists entering the field and the advanced graduate student.

Viral Genome Packaging: Genetics, Structure, and Mechanism (Molecular Biology Intelligence Unit)

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Viral Genome Packaging: Genetics, Structure, and Mechanism (Molecular Biology Intelligence Unit)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0306482274

Book Description

Viral Genome Packaging focuses on the process of genome "packaging" within a pre-formed viral procapsid. The chapters of this book concentrate on the biochemistry, enzymology and structural aspects of the genome packaging machinery. This book defines a broad mechanistic basis for the process across the prokaryotic and eukaryotic border, and for DNA and RNA viruses. The biochemical, biophysical and structural aspects of genome packaging are examined in detail.

RNA Trafficking and Nuclear Structure Dynamics (Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology)

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RNA Trafficking and Nuclear Structure Dynamics (Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3540404511

Book Description

Over the last few years remarkable progress has been accomplished with respect to our understanding of nuclear structure and trafficking. This volume concentrates on aspects that involve or are of relevance to RNA and RNPs. Topics include fundamental advances and current problems in the structural organization of different subnuclear compartments: chromatin, nucleolus and perinucleolar compartment, Cajal bodies and gems, speckles containing splicing factors, as well as the PML bodies characteristic of ProMyelocytic Leukemia. It also describes recent progress in the dynamic aspects of RNA trafficking and in the latest technologies for live cell imaging of mRNA. The major general message of this volume is that nuclear structure is much more dynamic than previously anticipated.

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