University Physics for the Life Sciences, 1st Edition
Randy Knight, California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo
Brian Jones, Colorado State University
Stuart Field, Colorado State University
Catherine Crouch, Swarthmore College
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Physics and Life
Physics and Life boxes are chapter openers that make the connection between physics and biology — providing the context to help students understand how physics content relates to the life sciences.
A Problem-Solving Framework
Prepare/Solve/Assess is the 3-step problem-solving framework used consistently throughout the book to provide detailed problem-solving strategies for different topics and types of problems.
Stop to Think
Stop to Think questions are interactive questions based on documented student misconceptions. Questions are interspersed throughout each chapter and embedded in the eTextbook.
MCAT Preparation Resources
MCAT resources give students essential practice in preparing for the MCAT with end-of-chapter problems, integrated problem sets, and an Appendix with concrete tips and MCAT-Style Passage Problems.
MCAT Prep Questions
Prep questions align with the new 2015 MCAT exam based on the Foundational Concepts and Content Categories outlined by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Assignable in Mastering Physics.
Ready-to-Go Teaching Modules
These modules help instructors save time when teaching the University Physics for the Life Sciences course and incorporate the best the text, Mastering Physics, and Learning Catalytics have to offer.
Video Collection
Videos embedded throughout the narrative tie directly to the content and visually engage students. Videos demonstrate key concepts, present physical phenomena, and walk students through the problem-solving process.
End-of-Chapter Questions
End-of-chapter questions and problems include embedded icons that indicate where problems integrate materials from earlier chapters, biological/medical applications, or where calculus is required.
Pearson eTextbook
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Randy Knight
Randy Knight taught introductory physics for thirty-two years at Ohio State University and California Polytechnic State University, where he is Professor Emeritus of Physics. Professor Knight received a PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before joining the faculty at Ohio State University. A growing awareness of the importance of research in physics education led first to Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach and later to College Physics: A Strategic Approach. Professor Knight’s research interests are in the fields of laser spectroscopy and environmental science. When he’s not in front of a computer, you can find Randy hiking, traveling, playing the piano, or spending time with his wife Sally and their five cats.
Brian Jones
Brian Jones has won several teaching awards at Colorado State University during his 30 years teaching in the Department of Physics. His teaching focus in recent years has been the College Physics class, including writing problems for the MCAT exam and helping students review for this test. In 2011, Brian was awarded the Robert A. Millikan Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers for his work as director of the Little Shop of Physics, a hands-on science outreach program. He is actively exploring the effectiveness of methods of informal science education and how to extend these lessons to the college classroom. Brian has been invited to give workshops on techniques of science instruction throughout the United States and in Belize, Chile, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Slovenia, Norway, and Namibia. Brian and his wife Carol have dozens of fruit trees and bushes in their yard, including an apple tree that was propagated from a tree in Isaac Newton’s garden.
Stuart Field
Stuart Field has been interested in science and technology his whole life. While in school he built telescopes, electronic circuits, and computers. After attending Stanford University, he earned a PhD at the University of Chicago, where he studied the properties of materials at ultralow temperatures. After completing a postdoctoral position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he held a faculty position at the University of Michigan. Currently at Colorado State University, Stuart teaches a variety of physics courses, including algebra-based introductory physics, and was an early and enthusiastic adopter of Knight’s Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Stuart maintains an active research program in the area of superconductivity. Stuart enjoys Colorado’s great outdoors, where he is an avid mountain biker; he also plays in local ice hockey leagues.
Catherine Hirshfeld Crouch
Contributing author Catherine Hirshfeld Crouch is Professor of Physics at Swarthmore College, where she has taught since 2003. Dr. Crouch’s work developing and evaluating curriculum for introductory physics for life science students has been used by faculty around the country and has been supported by the National Science Foundation. She earned her PhD at Harvard University in experimental condensed matter physics, and then remained at Harvard in a dual postdoctoral fellowship in materials physics and physics education with Eric Mazur, including developing and evaluating pedagogical best practices for undergraduate physics. She has published numerous peer-reviewed research articles in physics education and experimental physics, and has involved dozens of Swarthmore undergraduate students in her work. She is married to Andy Crouch and they have two young adult children, Timothy and Amy.
PART I Force and Motion
1. Physics for the Life Sciences
2. Concepts of Motion
3. Kinematics
4. Forces and Motion
5. Interacting Systems
6. Equilibrium and Elasticity
7. Circular and Rotational Motion
8. Momentum
9. Fluids
PART II Energy and Thermodynamics
10. Work and Energy
11. Interactions and Potential Energy
12. Thermodynamics
13. Kinetic Theory
14. Entropy and Free Energy
PART III Oscillations and Waves
15. Oscillations
16. Traveling Waves and Sound
17. Superposition and Standing Waves
