Fluctuations and Scaling in Biology

Techniques first employed in statistical physics have been used increasingly by life scientists over the last decade to study biological phenomena. This is the first book of its kind to present observations and models of collective phenomena in systems ranging from bacteria to humans. Vicsek summarises recent approaches and presents the most important new results for specialist readers and, by adopting a unified and coherent approach, ensures that the book will also serve as a text for new courses on scaling and fluctuation in biology. Many interesting phenomena are discussed, including fractal pattern formation, group motion amongst diverse organisms and the mechanisms by which fluctuations are rectified in the tiny molecular machines in the cell.