Calculus for Life Sciences

Preview of Modeling and Calculus

Figure 1 Mathematics has been used to model many biological systems on Earth, ranging from global climatic processes to viral dynamics.

Is calculus relevant?

“The interface between mathematics and biology presents challenges and opportunities for both mathematicians and biologists. Unique opportunities for research have surfaced within the past ten to twenty years because of the explosion of biological data with the advent of new technologies and because of the availability of advanced and powerful computers that can organize the data. For biology, the possibilities range from the level of the cell and molecule to the biosphere. For mathematics, the potential is great in traditional applied areas such as statistics and differential equations, as well as in such nontraditional areas as knot theory.”

“These challenges: aggregation of components to elucidate the behavior of ensembles, integration across scales, and inverse problems, are basic to all sciences, and a variety of techniques exist to deal with them and to begin to solve the biological problems that generate them. However, the uniqueness of biological systems, shaped by evolutionary forces, will pose new difficulties, mandate new perspectives, and lead to the development of new mathematics. The excitement of this area of science is already evident, and is sure to grow in the years to come.” ...