Foundations Of Mathematical Biology

Foundations of Mathematical Biology, Volume III, is devoted to the treatment of behavior of whole organisms and groups of organisms. The viewpoint taken throughout the book is a holistic, phenomenological one. That is, the integrated behavior of these organisms and groups of organisms is not, in general, referred back to specific structural properties of interacting subunits (as in a reductionist scheme), but is rather treated on its own terms without invoking the properties of lower levels of organization. The book begins with an overview of organization and control in physiological systems, with emphasis on the mathematical techniques involved in more detailed investigations of specific physiological mechanisms. Separate chapters cover the cardiovascular system, with particular reference to blood flow; gross problems of organic form; a relational overview of physics, biology, and sociology; the automata theory in the context of the central nervous system; and populations of interacting organisms. The final chapter discusses the material presented in the entire work, some of its philosophical presuppositions and implications, and the possibility of constructing a unified theory of mathematical biology.

Foundations of Mathematical Biology, Volume 1, Subcellular Systems, provides an introduction the place of mathematical biology in relation to the other biological, physical, and organizational sciences. It discusses the use of mathematical tools and techniques to solve biological problems. The book contains four chapters and begins with a discussion of the nature of hierarchical control in living matter. This is followed by a chapter on chemical kinetics and enzyme kinetics, covering the physicomathematical principles, models, and approximations underlying transition-state theory and the unimolecular reaction. Subsequent chapters deal with quantum genetics and membrane excitability.

Foundations of Mathematical Biology, Volume II: Cellular Systems describes the properties of cellular systems and their relationship to the development of multicellular organisms. This volume is composed of five chapters that present the mathematical tools applied in evaluating these systems. Chapters 1 illustrates the use of continuous time systems to examine the relationship between the properties of individual cells and the general problems of morphogenesis in developing systems, specifically how these properties could manifest themselves in morphological terms. Chapter 2 demonstrates the systems of rate equations or first-order differential equations to deal with the regulation of individual chemical processes and sequences of such processes, at both the genetic and metabolic levels. Chapter 3 discusses the application of the theory of automata to the evaluation of the concept and principles of embryology, while Chapter 4 presents some relational cell models to study the metabolism-repair cellular systems. Chapter 5 looks into the concept and systems of a compartment. This book will prove useful to mathematical and cell biologists and researchers.