	Introduction to Computational Biology: Maps, Sequences and Genomes (Interdisciplinary Statistics) by Michael S. Waterman (Author) Biology is in the midst of a era yielding many significant discoveries and promising many more. Unique to this era is the exponential growth in the size of information-packed databases. Inspired by a pressing need to analyze that data, Introduction to Computational Biology explores a new area of expertise that emerged from this fertile field- the combination of biological and information sciences. This introduction describes the mathematical structure of biological data, especially from...
	Stochastic Modelling for Systems Biology (Mathematical and Computational Biology) by Darren J. Wilkinson (Author) Although stochastic kinetic models are increasingly accepted as the best way to represent and simulate genetic and biochemical networks, most researchers in the field have limited knowledge of stochastic process theory. Stochastic Modelling for Systems Biology provides an accessible introduction to this theory using examples that are familiar to systems biology researchers. Focusing on computer simulation, the author examines the use of stochastic processes for modelling biological systems....
	Data Analysis Tools for DNA Microarrays by Sorin Draghici (Author) Technology today allows the collection of biological information at an unprecedented level of detail and in increasingly vast quantities. To reap real knowledge from the mountains of data produced, however, requires interdisciplinary skills-a background not only in biology but also in computer science and the tools and techniques of data analysis.To help meet the challenges of DNA research, Data Analysis Tools for DNA Microarrays builds the foundation in the statistics and data analysis tools...

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Product Description
This bookpresents recently discovered design principles that govern the structure and behavior of biological networks such as gene circuits, highlighting simple, recurring circuit elements that make up the network. It provides a quantitative theory for which circuits are found in a given environment and a mathematical framework for understanding and even designing biological circuits. The book requires only basic mathematics and includes a review of the necessary background material. It fills a significant need for a textbook and introduction to the concepts, principles, and mathematical tools that will form the basis of future developments in the field.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 8 reviews)

An Amazing Book by Jason Dowd (Los Angeles, CA)

5 Stars
April 17, 2009
If you have any interest in how life actually works, you should read this book. It weighs in at less than 300 pages, which makes it very approachable. But it manages to pack a wide array of fascinating material into those pages.

Life is complicated. And there is no reason to expect it to be readily comprehensible. Yet over the last few decades we have found that biological systems make extensive and repetitive use of certain patterns of functionality, and that these patterns often embody good design principles as practiced by human engineers.

Concepts such as modularity, robustness, and even optimality are found to be reflected in biological systems and exploitable to make verifiable predictions about how biological systems operate experimentally.

It is worth noting that while this book is deeply fascinating, it is not math free. Indeed the author began his career as a mathematician and the reader will find it helpful to have some knowledge of basic ordinary differential equations, calculus, and elementary algebra. On the other hand, very little if any biochemistry is required.

Fascinating! by Yegor Voronin (Seattle, WA USA)

5 Stars
January 31, 2009
What a great book! If you have any interest in how biological systems function and what principles lay in their most basic designs, you must read it!
It's very clearly written. I think almost everyone will find it accessible and interesting, no matter what your education level is or your primary field (but I think engineers will get a particular kick out of it). There is quite a bit of math, but it's very basic and even if you skip all of it, you will still learn a lot from the book.
I found the whole subject fascinating and intriguing. Sure, biological systems are not as simple as this book may seem to portray, but there is no doubt in my mind that the ideas presented here are quite relevant to biology and indeed underlay many of the real-world biological phenomena.

Awesome book by eyeinzsky75 (US)

5 Stars
January 10, 2009
Awesome book! The author did a great job in presenting the topics in an easy and enjoyable way.

Excellent serious book about biology -- no chemistry needed. by George Stanton (New York, NY USA)

5 Stars
July 23, 2008
This is a great book for learning about how biology works. I've been wanting to learn a bit more about biology, and I've read many of the popularized science books on the subject. Most serious biology books require a pretty good understanding of organic chemistry. (At first that didn't seem like a problem, after all organic chemistry is just regular chemistry with a bunch of carbon atoms lying around, but the jargon gets so dense that you lose track of what's going on.) This book offers an entirely different perspective on biology that is much more accessible to someone with a general interest in science.

This book looks at biology from the perspective of how genes and proteins interact at a network level, rather than a chemical level. It's a lot like learning electronics -- you can understand a lot about a transistor without knowing how semiconductors work. After explaining the operation of some of the most common network "motifs" the author talks about why those motifs were favored by evolution, in particular what makes them robust and how can they act to minimize errors. The book leaves you with the very interesting question of what characteristics might be different between an engineered system and an evolved one?

The language of the book is very clear, this is a technical book you could easily read for fun. The math is simple, just a little calculus, and if you don't care about the math you can just look at the diagrams.

Excellent stuff! by gani999 (Grenoble, France)

5 Stars
December 28, 2007
I am a macromolecular crystallographer interested in theoretical systems biology, and this book is a real goldmine. It explains all the concepts behind biochemical systems and networks in a clear, lucid language. This book is a pleasure to read, for both biologists and mathematicians alike.

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