Although much has already been said about Ch2 of Nelson, I thought I would blog some!
I thought that this chapter was quite basic for someone who has studied biophysics from different angles (e.g. biochemistry) but it was nice to get an idea for the scales of biological systems. Despite the fact that the carbon atom is about the same size as a glucose molecule in Figure 2.3 (a), I think this figure is an excellent image to show the real difference in scales present in biological systems. This is what we must cope with when analysing these systems!
This sense of scale is helpful in understanding the actions of thingies like viruses (see my other posts in response to James) and when discussing the evolution of basic cellular features. For example, virus infection is much more analysable when you know that a virus is a large protein interacting with a massive cell membrane. Also, scale is an essential concept for biophysical study since some of the most interesting problems relate to scaling up from atomic interactions to ecology and decision making.
Any thoughts?
I would agree with your thoughts Josh. This chapter was meant to give physicists reading the book a very general view of the cell and its' internal functions.
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