edited by Daniel L Stein (University of Arizona, USA)

This volume is an introduction to the application of techniques developed for the study of disordered systems to problems which arise in biology. Topics presented include neural networks, adaptation and evolution, maturation of the immune response, and protein dynamics and folding. This book will appeal to students and researchers interested in statistical and condensed matter physics, glasses and spin glasses, and biophysics.

• Introduction (P W Anderson)
• The Physics of Neural Networks (H Gutfreund & G Toulouse)
• The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution (S A Kauffman)
• Self-Organization in Prebiological Systems: A Model for the Origin of Genetic Information (D S Rokhsar)
• Evolution of Species and Punctuated Equilibria: Genotypes, Phenotypes and Population Dynamics (G Weisbuch)
• Mathematical Models of Evolution on Rugged Landscapes (A S Perelson & C A Macken)
• The Spin-Glass Analogy in Protein Dynamics (R H Austin & C M Chen)
• Spin Glass Ideas and the Protein Folding Problems (P G Wolynes)