Biological Thermodynamics
by Donald T. Haynie
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Book Summary Information
Author: Donald T. HaynieEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-03-10
ISBN: 0521711347
Number of pages: 438
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Book Reviews of Biological Thermodynamics
Book Review: May have a narrower focus than you expect
Summary: 4 Stars
For neophytes to this field, like me, a more descriptive title for this book would be some jaw-breaker like "Thermal Physical Biochemistry". I'd picked the book up because I was interested in, e.g., the thermodynamic aspects of plant and animal physiology and morphology -- such as the shapes of leaves, snouts, beehives, etc. You won't find any of those subjects here, nor even any discussion of the thermodynamic differences between warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals other than a reference in a problem set. The book's scope is not really biology, but rather biochemistry. (According to an email I received from the author after posting an earlier version of this review, there is a professional society for "biological thermodynamics" that indeed focuses primarily on biochemistry. But if, like me, you're not a pro, you might be surprised to learn that the title phrase has such a narrow meaning. The author also tells me that there isn't enough material for a book about leaves, snouts, etc. at the undergraduate level; nonetheless, if that's what you're interested in, you should know it's not here.)
On the plus side, the book does have some down to earth explanations of concepts like entropy and free energy. It's also good at explaining why, for example, sometimes you want to use enthalpy and other times free energy. Most thermo textbooks just rattle off various combinations of variables, state functions and partial derviative relationships, without giving you any practical feel for when you'd use one or the other. In keeping with its emphasis on clarifying basic concepts, this book avoids calculus, and actually is better for it in many places.
That said, its approach is not purely thermodynamic. Thermo is based on macroscopic phenomena, even when discussing concepts like entropy. But this book's discussion of entropy is based on the statistical mechanics point of view from the get-go (even though stat mech isn't formally introduced until much later). It is not historically correct to say that "The Second Law is about the tendency of *particles* [emphasis in the original] to go from being concentrated to being spread out in space" (@60); the particle-based conception of the law followed the the law's discovery by several decades. The author's focus on particles fits in with the book's interest in chemistry. But the macroscopic point of view can give you many insights, too. (See, e.g., DeHoff's "Thermodynamics in Materials Science" for a non-biological example; ditto, in fact, for most engineering textbooks that deal with thermo.)
The book doesn't have any self-contained hints or solutions to any of the exercises. (The author tells me that those interested in solutions should write to him or the publisher for a solution set. I appreciate this, and I hope that news benefits you if you read the book; but in future editions this would be more helpful if stated on a website or in a preface.) There are also rather more typos, awkward phrases and awkward analogies than one would like to see in a 2nd edition. E.g., @73 the description of protein denaturation mixes up "decreases" with "increases"; there are too many negative signs in Table 4.1; a reaction is described as "cooperative" @ 97, even though this term is never defined in the text, leaving one to be mystifed by the glossary entry for "cooperativity" ("the degree of 'concertedness' of a change in conformation or arrangement of particles in a system," @402). (The author tells me that he will try to correct some of these problems in the next printing.) An explantion of the First Law analogizing energy to money is kind of OK in the limited context (@6), but the analogy is generally misleading, since money is not a conserved quantity even in economics theory. The author also has a tiresome and fitful quirk of mentioning the occupations of the fathers of many, though not all, of the scientists he names in the text.
Maybe the 3rd edition of this book will become a classic, but this edition isn't quite there yet.
Summary of Biological Thermodynamics
This inter-disciplinary guide to the thermodynamics of living organisms has been thoroughly revised and updated to provide a uniquely integrated overview of the subject. Retaining its highly readable style, it will serve as an introduction to the study of energy transformation in the life sciences and particularly as an accessible means for biology, biochemistry and bioengineering undergraduate students to acquaint themselves with the physical dimension of their subject. The emphasis throughout the text is on understanding basic concepts and developing problem-solving skills. The mathematical difficulty increases gradually by chapter, but no calculus is required. Topics covered include energy and its transformation, the First Law of Thermodynamics, Gibbs free energy, statistical thermodynamics, binding equilibria and reaction kinetics. Each chapter comprises numerous illustrative examples taken from different areas of biochemistry, as well as a broad range of exercises and references for further study.General Books
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