NR APXZ
AU May,R.M.
TI Uses and abuses of mathematics in biology
QU Science 2004 Feb 6; 303(5659): 790-3
PT journal article
AB In the physical sciences, mathematical theory and experimental investigation have always marched together. Mathematics has been less intrusive in the life sciences, possibly because they have until recently been largely descriptive, lacking the invariance principles and fundamental natural constants of physics. Increasingly in recent decades, however, mathematics has become pervasive in biology, taking many different forms: statistics in experimental design; pattern seeking in bioinformatics; models in evolution, ecology, and epidemiology; and much else. I offer an opinionated overview of such uses - and abuses.
MH Allergy and Immunology; *Biological Sciences; Computational Biology; Computer Simulation; Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome/prevention & control; Ecology; Evolution; Genetics, Population; HIV Infections/epidemiology/immunology/transmission; Human; *Mathematics; *Models, Biological; Models, Statistical; Nonlinear Dynamics; Statistics; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
AD Zoology Department, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
SP englisch
PO USA