Introduction
Who this text is for
This text is aimed at students at junior level or higher who are interested in biophysical chemistry or want a free supplemental text on the subject.
What this text aims to do
The aim of this textbook is to provide a free resource to help teach biophysical chemistry.
Some points of emphasis for this textbook are:
- Free and accessible
- Inclusion of code
- Applied techniques
- Continually updated
- Math and derivations
Limitations
This resource is a side project done by just 1 person. Figures are self-made or taken from Wikipedia under fair use.
Requirements
Math
- This textbook will assume knowledge of single variable calculus.
- Multivariable calculus will be used for derivations, especially in the physics-focused chapters.
- Properties of logarithms and exponentiatials will be used
- Differential equations will appear, but will not require understanding for how to solve, merely recognizing what the equation mean.
- Linear Algebra will be used in the some of the later probability-focused chapters, such as Markov Chains
- Basics of probability and statistics will be assumed
Physics
-
Not much physics is required, just basic understanding the concept of energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, force, etc.
Chemistry
- General chemmistry knowledge will be assumed
- Basics of organic chemistry will be assumed.
- Ability to understand shorthand for structures
- Nucleophile, electrophile concepts
Biology
- Familiarity with central dogma of biology
- Basic knowledge of nucleic acids
- Basic knowledge of proteins
Programming
Programming knowledge is
not a prerequisite for understanding the concepts in the book.
However, there will be an emphasis on code relative to other biophysics books, and it is something that the author did deliberately.
Some algorithms for simulations will be explicitly mentioned, while other code will just be shown if it was used to generate figures.
Other Recommended Resources
This is a great textbook with many specific examples of applications to biology.
The gold standard for learning Stochastic Calculus.