Instructor Resources
This legacy page describes the First Edition. For information about the current Second Edition, please visit this page.Physical Models of Living Systems is a textbook intended for intermediate-level undergraduates in any science or engineering major. The only prerequisite for this course is first-year physics.
- Instructor’s Preface (PDF)
- Penn students reflect quantitatively and qualitatively on the usefulness of the class in their later work (PDF). You may find such data useful when trying to convince colleagues that courses like this one should be offered.
- A separate Student Guide, distributed free, introduces students to those aspects of MATLAB programming needed to solve the problems.
- Also useful: A Student's Guide to Python for Physical Modeling by Jesse M. Kinder and Philip Nelson (Princeton University Press). There is also a Kindle edition.
The book has an associated blog. - A collection of experimental datasets is available for students to use when solving the homework problems.
- An Instructor Guide, available from the publisher, contains solutions to the problems, PowerPoint and PDF presentation slides, extra references, and ideas for classroom demonstrations.
- The demonstration ideas are also here.