It is these similarities and differences between physical and biological oscillators
which resulted in the Physics of Biological Oscillators (POBO) conference at
Chicheley Hall, UK in 2018, a meeting held in celebration of the 60th birthday of
Aneta Stefanovska who has contributed so much to the development of the subject.
This book captures the discussions and presentations during three wonderful days
of exciting science, in which experts in different disciplines grappled with the
immense intellectual challenges of finding the best ways to describe, analyze, model
and understand the properties, functions, behaviors and uses of biological oscillators. The chapters summarizing the presentations by researchers across the different
disciplines give an insight into the different biological systems being investigated
and the variety of Physics approaches being used. It was exhilarating to spend three
days in the company of researchers from different disciplines trying to bridge the
gaps between the experts in different fields to understand these fundamental biological behaviors. This seems an even more amazing experience looking back
through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic which hit during the final stages of
production of this book. I hope you enjoy the invigorating intellectual stimulation
contained within these chapters as much as I have.
August 2020
Alex A. R. Webb
Department of Plant Sciences
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
Foreword by Alex A. R. Webb
vii
which resulted in the Physics of Biological Oscillators (POBO) conference at
Chicheley Hall, UK in 2018, a meeting held in celebration of the 60th birthday of
Aneta Stefanovska who has contributed so much to the development of the subject.
This book captures the discussions and presentations during three wonderful days
of exciting science, in which experts in different disciplines grappled with the
immense intellectual challenges of finding the best ways to describe, analyze, model
and understand the properties, functions, behaviors and uses of biological oscillators. The chapters summarizing the presentations by researchers across the different
disciplines give an insight into the different biological systems being investigated
and the variety of Physics approaches being used. It was exhilarating to spend three
days in the company of researchers from different disciplines trying to bridge the
gaps between the experts in different fields to understand these fundamental biological behaviors. This seems an even more amazing experience looking back
through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic which hit during the final stages of
production of this book. I hope you enjoy the invigorating intellectual stimulation
contained within these chapters as much as I have.
August 2020
Alex A. R. Webb
Department of Plant Sciences
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
Foreword by Alex A. R. Webb
vii