Levels of Organization in the Biological Sciences

Levels of Organization in the Biological Sciences
Author: Daniel S. Brooks
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2021-08-24
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0262045338

Scientific philosophers examine the nature and significance of levels of organization, a core structural principle in the biological sciences. This volume examines the idea of levels of organization as a distinct object of investigation, considering its merits as a core organizational principle for the scientific image of the natural world. It approaches levels of organization--roughly, the idea that the natural world is segregated into part-whole relationships of increasing spatiotemporal scale and complexity--in terms of its roles in scientific reasoning as a dynamic, open-ended idea capable of performing multiple overlapping functions in distinct empirical settings. The contributors--scientific philosophers with longstanding ties to the biological sciences--discuss topics including the philosophical and scientific contexts for an inquiry into levels; whether the concept can actually deliver on its organizational promises; the role of levels in the development and evolution of complex systems; conditional independence and downward causation; and the extension of the concept into the sociocultural realm. Taken together, the contributions embrace the diverse usages of the term as aspects of the big picture of levels of organization. Contributors Jan Baedke, Robert W. Batterman, Daniel S. Brooks, James DiFrisco, Markus I. Eronen, Carl Gillett, Sara Green, James Griesemer, Alan C. Love, Angela Potochnik, Thomas Reydon, Ilya Tëmkin, Jon Umerez, William C. Wimsatt, James Woodward

Biological Series

Biological Series
Author: Michigan. Geological Survey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 240
Release: 1912
Genre: Natural history
ISBN:

Problems and Solutions in Biological Sequence Analysis

Problems and Solutions in Biological Sequence Analysis
Author: Mark Borodovsky
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 15
Release: 2006-09-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1139458124

This book is the first of its kind to provide a large collection of bioinformatics problems with accompanying solutions. Notably, the problem set includes all of the problems offered in Biological Sequence Analysis, by Durbin et al. (Cambridge, 1998), widely adopted as a required text for bioinformatics courses at leading universities worldwide. Although many of the problems included in Biological Sequence Analysis as exercises for its readers have been repeatedly used for homework and tests, no detailed solutions for the problems were available. Bioinformatics instructors had therefore frequently expressed a need for fully worked solutions and a larger set of problems for use on courses. This book provides just that: following the same structure as Biological Sequence Analysis and significantly extending the set of workable problems, it will facilitate a better understanding of the contents of the chapters in BSA and will help its readers develop problem-solving skills that are vitally important for conducting successful research in the growing field of bioinformatics. All of the material has been class-tested by the authors at Georgia Tech, where the first ever MSc degree program in Bioinformatics was held.

Biological Series

Biological Series
Author: University of New Mexico
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1114
Release: 1935
Genre: Biology
ISBN:

Skin

Skin
Author: P. F. Millington
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 250
Release: 1983-05-05
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780521241229

First published in 1983 this book provides a review of the fundamentals of the biology and mechanics of human skin. The major theme is the interaction between and dependence of the integrity of skin on, cell turnover, nutrition, control mechanisms and disease. Mechanical, thermal and electrical properties are presented separately in a way that should allow the mathematically inexperienced reader to understand the principles but with sufficient detail to permit development of more advanced ideas. Discussion of environmental effects on skin includes cosmetics, solar radiation and clinical treatments. An account of methods of wound closure and of the recent attempts to find a substitute for skin completes an overview of this fascinating tissue.

Biological Computation

Biological Computation
Author: Ehud Lamm
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2011-05-25
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1420087967

The area of biologically inspired computing, or biological computation, involves the development of new, biologically based techniques for solving difficult computational problems. A unified overview of computer science ideas inspired by biology, Biological Computation presents the most fundamental and significant concepts in this area. In the book

Dynamics of Biological Systems

Dynamics of Biological Systems
Author: Michael Small
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2011-08-25
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1439853363

From the spontaneous rapid firing of cortical neurons to the spatial diffusion of disease epidemics, biological systems exhibit rich dynamic behaviour over a vast range of time and space scales. Unifying many of these diverse phenomena, Dynamics of Biological Systems provides the computational and mathematical platform from which to understand the underlying processes of the phenomena. Through an extensive tour of various biological systems, the text introduces computational methods for simulating spatial diffusion processes in excitable media, such as the human heart, as well as mathematical tools for dealing with systems of nonlinear ordinary and partial differential equations, such as neuronal activation and disease diffusion. The mathematical models and computer simulations offer insight into the dynamics of temporal and spatial biological systems, including cardiac pacemakers, artificial electrical defibrillation, pandemics, pattern formation, flocking behaviour, the interaction of autonomous agents, and hierarchical and structured network topologies. Tools from complex systems and complex networks are also presented for dealing with real phenomenological systems. With exercises and projects in each chapter, this classroom-tested text shows students how to apply a variety of mathematical and computational techniques to model and analyze the temporal and spatial phenomena of biological systems. MATLAB® implementations of algorithms and case studies are available on the author’s website.

Biological Invasions

Biological Invasions
Author: M. Williamson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1996
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0412591901

Some biological invasions have marked ecological and economic effects. But most fail, and most of those that succeed have small effects. This volume should be of interest to plant ecologists, plant conservationists, population biologists, agriculturalists

Modelling Biological Populations in Space and Time

Modelling Biological Populations in Space and Time
Author: Eric Renshaw
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 428
Release: 1993-08-26
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780521448550

This volume develops a unifying approach to population studies, emphasising the interplay between modelling and experimentation. Throughout, mathematicians and biologists are provided with a framework within which population dynamics can be fully explored and understood. Aspects of population dynamics covered include birth-death and logistic processes, competition and predator-prey relationships, chaos, reaction time-delays, fluctuating environments, spatial systems, velocities of spread, epidemics, and spatial branching structures. Both deterministic and stochastic models are considered. Whilst the more theoretically orientated sections will appeal to mathematical biologists, the material is presented so that readers with little mathematical expertise can bypass these without losing the main flow of the text.