BIOPHYSICS The Physics of Nerves

The accepted model for nerve pulse propagation in bi-ological membranes seems insufficient. It is restricted to dissipative electrical phenomena and considers nerve pulses exclusively as a microscopic phenomenon. A simple thermodynamic model that is based on the macroscopic properties of membranes allows explaining more features of nerve pulse propagation including the phenomenon of anesthesia that has so far remained unexplained. In his book entitled ”What is life? ” from 1944 Erwin Schrödinger summarized his view of the role that physics plays in biology. He outlined his opinion that the laws of physics, and in particular those of thermodynamics, are sufficient to explain life. His book had a big influence on his contemporary colleagues. James Watson and Francis Crick, the finders of the DNA double helix structure, explicitl