CONSULTING EDITOR'S STATEMENT 



It is unfortunate that many students of biology regard biophysics as an 

 esoteric and "•difficult" subject. The introduction of Professor Casey's 

 "Biophysics: Concepts and Mechanisms' 1 to the Reinhold Books in the 

 Biological Sciences should do much to dispel this view. Certainly, if every 

 premedical student had a course in biophysics — and certainly no better book 

 than Casey's exists for that purpose today — he would find his subsequent 

 struggles with physiology enormously simplified. This is not to suggest that 

 Professor Casey either dilutes or oversimplifies his subject. The simplicity 

 of this book lies in the transcendent clarity and utter logic of the presenta- 

 tion. A brief introduction to the necessary mathematics starts the book. 

 This leads to a discussion of the physical forces exemplified in man, of mat- 

 ter waves, electromagnetic radiations, and radioactivity as they apply to 

 biological research. The author then passes to big molecules, and through 

 them to an introduction to bioenergetics and the speed of biological proc- 

 esses. The chapter on biophysical studies on nerve and muscle that follows 

 draws point to all that has come before. The chapters on ionizing radiations 

 and biophysical control excellently round out the broad scope of the book. 

 All this, it must again be emphasized, is couched in language intelligible 

 to any interested science major. I feel confident that the physicist, clinician, 

 and biologist will find this book an ideal synthesis of an exciting interdis- 

 ciplinary science. 



Peter Gray 



Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 



October, 1962 



