Book cover of Mathematical Ideas in Biology

Book description

This is a lucid introduction to some of the mathematical ideas which are useful to biologists. Professor Maynard Smith introduces the reader to the ways in which biological problems can be expressed mathematically, and shows how the mathematical equations which arise in biological work can be solved. Each chapter has…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Mathematical Ideas in Biology as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is a classic! I have had (and worn through copies) since 1969.

There is no explicit mention of disease in Maynard Smith’s book, but the two chapters on population regulation will give you all the tools you need to start applying ideas from disease biology.

As with the Feynman lectures, there is mathematics in this book – but it begins with arithmetic. I recommend it for much the same reason that I recommend Feynman because it will show you how mathematical reasoning can illuminate biology and was written by one the great mathematical biologists of the 20th century.

The…

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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