ABSTRACT
The math needed to deal with biophysical systems can be vast and is limited only by the systems one chooses to deal with and the aspects one chooses to describe. This chapter highlights some essential math. This chapter presents a survey of the more advanced math that is needed for biophysics. Physics texts generally develop notations that directly suit the common equations used in physics, such as Newton’s law. Engineering dynamics texts that commonly delve into finite changes in motional variables and finite integrations. Simplifying biosystems by ignoring or removing certain components has been the basis for thousands of arguments between physical and biological scientists. Approximations of use in differential equations usually consist of cases where small or large values of a quantity or parameter are of interest. Calculus is needed in biophysics because biological systems are not generally uniform, homogeneous, and constant and because the fundamental equations describing dynamic processes are usually differential.
