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Biology and mathematics: A fruitful merger of two cultures

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Abstract

The great promise of biological science is not its ‘mathematization’ per se, but the creative interaction between experimental biology and what one, in analogy to physics, may simply call theoretical biology. The key to, and also the great challenge in, fulfilling this promise is to find the correct fundamental notions to mathematically describe biological reality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physik Department der TU München & BCCN – Munich, 85747, Garching bei München, Germany

    J. Leo van Hemmen

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  1. J. Leo van Hemmen
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Correspondence to J. Leo van Hemmen.

Additional information

We are initiating a new series of short communications in Biological Cybernetics, called BC Forum; here is the first contribution. A submission can be commentary-like but should ideally also develop an interesting new idea for the general neuroscience community. The Editor and Coeditors-in-Chief realize that ‘new’ is open to interpretation by our readers, so even occasional polemics will be welcomed here, provided the arguments are clear. Also welcomed in the BC Forum are novel theoretical demonstrations to support classical results or innovative mathematical proofs of known results. In short, BC Forum will be a platform for short provocative commentaries and new, concise theoretical/mathematical demonstrations. In general, their length should not exceed two BC pages. We hope you will enjoy them!

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van Hemmen, J.L. Biology and mathematics: A fruitful merger of two cultures. Biol Cybern 97, 1–3 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-007-0163-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-007-0163-3

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