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Physics in Biology and Medicine
This interdisciplinary introductory text covers topics in physics as they apply to the life sciences, specifically medicine, physiology, nursing and other applied health fields. Physics for Biology and Medicine, Second Edition is a concise introductory paperback that surveys and relates basic physics to living systems. It discusses biological systems that can be analyzed quantitatively and how advances in the life sciences have been aided by physical or engineering analysis. Provides many practical techniques for applying knowledge of physics to the study of living systems Explains the operation of modern medical devices such as Computerised Axial Tomography (CAT) scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in simple understandable terms Presents material in a straightforward manner requiring very little background in physics or biology Includes many figures, examples, and illustrative problems Includes appendices which provide convenient access to the most important concepts of mechanics, electricity, and optics
303 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2000
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April 28, 2015
I got a free copy of this textbook to review, since I'm considering building a 100-level physics course on it. It's coverage of the applications of physics to the human body and medicine is really very good. It's written well and is truly aimed at the students who know their anatomy but not how to use physics or math to a great extent. It is written as a follow-up to a standard 2-semester physics course. The basics of physics are reviewed in two appendices (one per semester, roughly). Since very few students bound for the health sciences are able/willing to take 3 semesters of physics, I'll need to fit the basics in with the applications from this book in the same course. The textbook will therefore need quite a bit of supplementation to make the course work. It's a very good read for people interested in the applications on their own, but again, it assumes you already know some physics. Also, the problems at the end of each chapter are decent, but there aren't enough of them, and they will also need to be supplemented.
In short, this is a good book and is exactly what it claims to be, but I'll need to add quite a bit of basics to it to make it into a 1-semester course with enough background for the students to really learn the material.
One gripe I have about the book is the lack of respect for units. When the author is doing a calculation, he often plugs numbers in right away (without starting with the original formula!) and plugs them in without units. The units appear on the final answer magically. This probably won't bother any of my students, but it bothers me since I work very hard to not let them do this sort of thing.
In short, this is a good book and is exactly what it claims to be, but I'll need to add quite a bit of basics to it to make it into a 1-semester course with enough background for the students to really learn the material.
One gripe I have about the book is the lack of respect for units. When the author is doing a calculation, he often plugs numbers in right away (without starting with the original formula!) and plugs them in without units. The units appear on the final answer magically. This probably won't bother any of my students, but it bothers me since I work very hard to not let them do this sort of thing.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review