Chapter 13
Modeling Biological Systems
Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a
computer. Art is all the rest.
— Donald E. Knuth
Summary Modeling of biological systems and ecology is a useful exercise, as it
allows one to discover and focus on the important aspects of life’s system dynamics.
Population dynamics is a good example. Modeling also helps us understand system
optimization. With a long span of time, evolution picks out optimal systems. Models
of optimization can be revealing by testing the importance of various aspects to
be optimized, and their constraints. Metabolic scaling laws come about from such
optimization.
13.1 Mathematical Modeling in Biology
When a system can be described mathematically, at least to some approximation,
we are better able to understand logical relationships in that system, to reduce
ambiguities, to deduce consequences, to make definite predictions, and to have a
firmer basis for our imaginings and our search for deeper truths.
We have already seen examples of how logic expressed through the shorthand of
mathematics helps us understand many of our observations of biological systems.
Logical quantitative descriptions have also been applied to such diverse fields as
optimization in organ evolution, emergent laws in complex systems, neurological
dynamics, robustness in protein design, and the computer simulations of ecosystems, among many others.
In what follows, we will give further examples of the power of logical thinking.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. C. Parke, Biophysics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44146-3_13
557
Modeling Biological Systems
Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a
computer. Art is all the rest.
— Donald E. Knuth
Summary Modeling of biological systems and ecology is a useful exercise, as it
allows one to discover and focus on the important aspects of life’s system dynamics.
Population dynamics is a good example. Modeling also helps us understand system
optimization. With a long span of time, evolution picks out optimal systems. Models
of optimization can be revealing by testing the importance of various aspects to
be optimized, and their constraints. Metabolic scaling laws come about from such
optimization.
13.1 Mathematical Modeling in Biology
When a system can be described mathematically, at least to some approximation,
we are better able to understand logical relationships in that system, to reduce
ambiguities, to deduce consequences, to make definite predictions, and to have a
firmer basis for our imaginings and our search for deeper truths.
We have already seen examples of how logic expressed through the shorthand of
mathematics helps us understand many of our observations of biological systems.
Logical quantitative descriptions have also been applied to such diverse fields as
optimization in organ evolution, emergent laws in complex systems, neurological
dynamics, robustness in protein design, and the computer simulations of ecosystems, among many others.
In what follows, we will give further examples of the power of logical thinking.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. C. Parke, Biophysics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44146-3_13
557