×

Why is mathematical biology so hard? (English) Zbl 1168.92303

From the text: Although there is a long history of the applications of mathematics to biology, only recently has mathematical biology become an accepted branch of applied mathematics. Undergraduates are doing research projects and graduate students are writing Ph.D. dissertations in mathematical biology, and departments are trying to hire them. But what should the Ph.D. training consist of? How should departments judge work in mathematical biology? Such policy questions are always important and controversial, but they are particularly difficult here because mathematical biology is very different from the traditional applications of mathematics in physics. I’ll begin by discussing the nature of the field itself and then return to the policy questions.

MSC:

92B05 General biology and biomathematics
01A80 Sociology (and profession) of mathematics
PDFBibTeX XMLCite
Full Text: Link