WINE CORKS AND CYTOSKELETONS:
              THE STATISTICAL MECHANICS OF MEMBRANES

                     Professor Mark Bowick  
               Physics Dept. Syracuse University



ABSTRACT:

I will discuss some basic features of the statistical mechanics of
physical membranes with focus on the behavior of polymerized or
fixed-connectivity membranes such as the spectrin cytoskeleton of red
blood cells.  This class of membrane exhibits order from disorder and
novel elasticity,  including a universal negative Poisson ratio, with
potential biological and material science applications.