Giant Molecules: Here, There, and Everywhere - Hardcover

Grosberg, Alexander; Khoklov, Alexei R.

9780123041302: Giant Molecules: Here, There, and Everywhere

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0123041309 ISBN 13: 9780123041302

Publisher: Academic Press, 1997

Lively, informative, and easy-to-understand, this book is a fascinating read for scientists across many disciplines and the educated/interested layperson. Beautifully presented with eight pages of color illustrations, Giant Molecules: Here, There, and Everywhere addresses the nature and role of giant molecules, which are the"source"for polymer chains. Grosberg and Khokhlov explain what giant molecules are, how they are formed, where they are applied, and whythey are important in everyday life and in science. The simple, non-technical style is complemented by full-color illustrations.
A CD-ROM enclosed with the book provides simulation of typical behavior of polymers, which is an extremely useful tool for teaching purposes. This feature will be of special interest to the expert in polymers across many disciplines, including molecularbiology, materials science, physics, and chemistry. The CD-ROM also allows the user to create a broad variety of movies simulating an almost arbitrary polymer system, customized to the user's specific needs.
Giant Molecules presents the subject matter much more clearly than the standard scientific text. It provides a unique opportunity to grasp the most advanced methods of polymer physics with the guidance of world leaders in the field. The book features a foreword written by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, a Nobel Prize Laureate, and each chapter in this fascinating volume is preceded by a quote from such notable sources as Goethe, St. Exupery, and Mark Twain. Written in a simple, non-scientific style, Giant Molecules should be understandable to interested readers at any level, and the color illustrations and CD-ROM add to the appeal of this lively book.

Key Features
* Includes a foreword written by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Nobel Laureate
* Written at a level both the scientist and non-scientist can appreciate
* Uses a clear, comprehensive manner to describe giant molecules
* Features a CD-ROM with movies showing the simulation of polymer behavior
* Presents a simple approach to the most complex phenomena, using very limited mathematics
* Considers aspects of polymers as materials

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From the Back Cover:

Lively, informative, and easy-to-read, Giant Molecules will interest anyone who is curious about today's science. An educated reader will be able to read the book from cover to cover and get a coherent idea of one of the "hottest" subjects of modern science: the world of giant molecules, or polymers. At the same time, a scientist, whether a physicist, a chemist, a materials engineer, or a molecular biologist, will be interested in the complex topics presented here in simple language.

This fascinating book illuminates the nature of giant molecules; it explains what giant molecules are, how they are formed, where they are applied, and why they are important in everyday life and science. Among other important applications, giant molecules are widely used in the chemical, electronic, agricultural, and pharmaceutical industries, as well as in clinical medicine. They are the basis for many "biological machines," form those that recognize viruses and bacteria in our bodies to those that fire our muscles and enable our eye to see and ears to hear; in short, much of what makes us living things!

From the Inside Flap:

This book describes the basic facts, concepts and ideas of polymer physics in simple, yet scientifically accurate, terms. In both scientific and historic contexts, the book shows how the subject of polymers is fascinating, as it is behind most of the wonders of living cell machinery as well as most of the new developments in materials. No mathematics is used in the book beyond modest high school algebra, yet very sophisticated concepts are introduced and explained, ranging from scaling and reptations to protein folding and evolution. This new edition includes an extended section on polymer preparation methods, discusses knots formed by molecular filaments, and presents new and updated materials on polymer properties of proteins and their roles in biological evolution.

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