{"product_id":"living-at-micro-scale-9780674060210","title":"Living at Micro Scale","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt isn’t easy being small. Dusenbery uses straightforward physics to demonstrate the constraints on the size, shape, and behavior of tiny organisms. While recounting the historical development of the basic concepts, he unearths a corner of microbiology rich in history, and full of lessons about how science does or does not progress.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe book draws on 20 years of Dusenbery’s own research, and he doesn’t compromise on the science; informed readers will find all the equations they could need. But it is rarely dry or uninteresting, and benefits from a liberal scattering of anecdotes going back 2500 years. My favorite is the idea that Galileo fell foul of the church because of his atomist view of matter. -- Colin Barras * New Scientist *\u003cbr\u003eDavid Dusenbery’s book \u003ci\u003eLiving at Micro Scale\u003c\/i\u003e does an excellent job of explaining the physics that is relevant at this scale and, later in the book, how this physics affects the behavior of microorganisms… The book will be accessible and useful to a wide audience of people interested in biology, physics or engineering. And the provocative questions presented are sure to be the subject of intense activity in the research community for years to come. -- Thomas R. Powers * American Scientist *\u003cbr\u003eI have long used Edward M. Purcell’s famous essay to draw my students to the fascinating blend of biology, mathematics, and physics that deals with low Reynolds numbers. Now David Dusenbery’s \u003ci\u003eLiving at Micro Scale\u003c\/i\u003e provides me with a wealth of new material that combines simple mathematics, rigorous physics, and interesting microbiology. It will be indispensable to my teaching. Dusenbery uses evocative illustrations, and many lucid derivations and useful tables that will greatly increase the variety of examples that I can raise with undergraduates regarding microbe size, shape, propulsion, sensory ecology, and encounter. The volume is sure to become a well-worn reference volume on my shelf, and one that will fuel many graduate seminars. -- Peter A. Jumars, Darling Marine Center, University of Maine\u003cbr\u003eUsing his deep knowledge of the principles of both physics and biology, Dusenbery provides novel insights into why biological systems are organized as they are. He has the uncanny ability to synthesize information that is common knowledge in physics, make a few simple calculations, and explain processes that have long puzzled biologists. Dusenbery shows how the tools of the physicist—generalization and approximation—and physics’ rich repertoire of models can inform and advance biology. Biologists would do well to listen. -- Terry Snell, Professor of Biology,  Georgia Institute of Technology\u003cbr\u003eOf course biologists know that physical law constrains biological design. But the subtlety, the pervasiveness, the number and interrelationships of relevant factors—these come as a splendid revelation in David Dusenbery’s \u003ci\u003eLiving at Micro Scale\u003c\/i\u003e. One is left wondering how we biologists could have managed to ignore them, and left grateful to Dusenbery for this enlightening account. -- Steven Vogel, Duke University, author of \u003ci\u003eComparative Biomechanics: Life’s Physical World\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Harvard University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51742275240279,"sku":"9780674060210","price":24.26,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780674060210.jpg?v=1758383911","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/living-at-micro-scale-9780674060210","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}