- Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance (p. 519).
- Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963 for their research on nerve action potentials (p. 154).
- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was shared in 1979 by a physicist, Allan Cormack, and an engineer, Godfrey Hounsfield, for the development of computed tomography (p. 455).
- Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1991 for the invention of the patch clamp technique for studying ion channels (p. 238).
- For his work elucidating the structure of potassium channels (p. 240), Roderick MacKinnon shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Peter Agre.
- Paul Lauterbur shared with Sir Peter Mansfield the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of magnetic resonance imaging (p. 527).
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Nobel Prize
Last week the 2007 Nobel Prize winners were announced. Congratulations to these distinguished scientists. In the 4th edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology, Russ Hobbie and I discuss many Nobel Laureates and their research:
Friday, October 12, 2007
Distances and Sizes
The Machinery of Life, by David Goodsell. |
Friday, October 5, 2007
Medical Physics: The Perfect Intermediate Level Physics Class
In 2001, Nelson Christensen of Carleton College published an article in the European Journal of Physics (Volume 22, Pages 421–427) titled “Medical Physics: the Perfect Intermediate Level Physics Class.” The primary textbook for his class was the 3rd edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. Below is the conclusion to his paper.
A medical physics course should be looked upon as a beneficial addition to the undergraduate physics curriculum. The course should be considered as an ideal addition to the intermediate level physics curriculum, as it covers almost all of the major subjects that physics undergraduates should see. Students are often bored by lack of direct applications or good examples when covering physics subjects. In our class we talked about physics within the context of medical applications. For every physical topic there was a medical application; students loved it.
The interdisciplinary nature of a course like medical physics offers other advantages. A course like this provides an opportunity for keen pre-medical students to return to physics. A number of the pre-meds are genuinely interested in physics, but lack a good opportunity or reason to take an upper-level physics course. The differing backgrounds of the physics and pre- medical students presented an additional benefit in that a fantastic environment for stimulating discussions was created. The students would share with one-another their expertise.
Finally, there can be no denying that medical physics and biomedical engineering are evolving at a breakneck pace. There are opportunities available in abundance in these fields. Students are interested in medical physics for a number of reasons. There are equally good reasons for the faculty to provide a course in medical physics. This is exciting physics and exciting science!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Teaching from Intemediate Physics for Medicine and Biology
How can you structure a class using the 4th edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology? At Oakland University, we offer two classes—Biological Physics and Medical Physics—as part of our undergraduate medical physics major. Biological Physics covers the first ten chapters of the book, and Medical Physics covers the last eight chapters. Below is the information about these classes in our undergraduate catalog (Note: PHY 102 and 152 are the second semesters of the non-calculus and calculus based introductory physics classes, and MTH 155 is the second semester of introductory calculus).
PHY 325 Biological Physics (4 credits)
Applications of physics to biology, including biomechanics, fluid dynamics, statistical mechanics, diffusion, bioelectricity, biomagnetism, feedback and control.
Prerequisite: PHY 102 or 152, and MTH 155
PHY 326 Medical Physics (4 credits)
Applications of physics to medicine, including signal analysis, imaging, x-rays, nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging.
Prerequisite: PHY 102 or 152, and MTH 155
Friday, September 21, 2007
"The Making of the Book" Story
Nowadays, when a movie comes out on DVD it often includes extras such as “the making of the movie” story. If you want to see “the making of the book” story, go to the American Physical Society, Division of Biological Physics newsletter website and download the December 2006 newsletter. It contains an extended interview with Russ Hobbie, in which he describes how he came to write Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology.
Friday, September 14, 2007
The Errata
We found an error in the 4th edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology this week. Actually, it was Hugo Vrenken of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam who found a typo on Page 539 in Problem 19 of Chapter 18: an equation has an extra factor of 4 in the denominator. Russ and I tried to ferret out all the mistakes in the book before publication, but inevitably we missed a few. If you are reading the book, you can find the not-yet-too-long list of known errors (the errata) at the book’s website: https://sites.google.com/view/hobbieroth. Although we really hate to find mistakes in our book, Russ and I are committed to letting our readers know about any that do exist. Please help us by contacting me if you find any mistakes. Thanks!
Friday, September 7, 2007
If you think about it, there are few books that cover this subject
Peter Kahn reviewed the third edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology in the American Journal of Physics (Volume 67, Pages 457–458, 1999). Kahn wrote “If you think about it, there are few books that cover this subject. This reflects on the one hand the rigidity of the Physics curriculum, and on the other hand the fact [that] biologists are inadequately prepared to apply physics to the problems they encounter.”
Friday, August 31, 2007
Preface
From the Preface to the 3rd edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology, Russell Hobbie wrote
Between 1971 and 1973 I audited all the courses medical students take in their first two years at the University of Minnesota. I was amazed at the amount of physics I found in these courses and how little of it is discussed in the general physics course. I found a great discrepancy between the physics in some of the papers in the biological research literature and what I knew to be the level of understanding of most biology majors or premed students who have taken a year of physics. It was clear that an intermediate-level physics course would help these students. It would provide the physics they need and would relate it directly to the biological problems where it is useful. This book is the result...
Thursday, August 23, 2007
A Good Way to Become a Medical Physicist
John Wikswo wrote a review in Physics Today of the 2nd edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology (Physics Today, Volume 42, Pages 75–76, 1989). He concluded with
A good way to become a medical physicist or biophysicist is to master everything in Hobbie’s Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology
In 1978, Russell Hobbie wrote the first edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. It became a classic in the field, and I used it as a textbook when I was a graduate student. A few years ago, Russ was getting ready to prepare the 4th edition of his book, and he asked me to be a co-author. What an honor. We had a great time working on the book, and I think you will like the results. We added a new chapter on ultrasound, and increased the number of homework problems significantly.
You can find the website for the book at https://sites.google.com/view/hobbieroth.
In the preface of our book, we write “We would appreciate receiving any corrections or suggestions for improving the book.” Let me reiterate this. If you find any mistakes, please let us know.
Thanks for your interest in our book. Contact Russ or me if you have any questions.
Brad
You can find the website for the book at https://sites.google.com/view/hobbieroth.
In the preface of our book, we write “We would appreciate receiving any corrections or suggestions for improving the book.” Let me reiterate this. If you find any mistakes, please let us know.
Thanks for your interest in our book. Contact Russ or me if you have any questions.
Brad
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