  Statistical mechanics is one of the most powerful and elegant tools in the
quantitative sciences. One key virtue of statistical mechanics is that it is
designed to examine large systems with many interacting degrees of freedom,
providing a clue that it might have some bearing on the analysis of the
molecules of living matter. As a result of data on biological systems becoming
increasingly quantitative, there is a concomitant demand that the models set
forth to describe biological systems be themselves quantitative. We describe
how statistical mechanics is part of the quantitative toolkit that is needed to
respond to such data. The power of statistical mechanics is not limited to
traditional physical and chemical problems and there are a host of interesting
ways in which these ideas can be applied in biology. This article reports on
our efforts to teach statistical mechanics to life science students and
provides a framework for others interested in bringing these tools to a
nontraditional audience in the life sciences.
