An Interview with Jack Cowan1
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Nicolas Rashevsky's Mathematical Biophysics
Journal of the History of Biology 37: 333–385, 2004. 333 Ó 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Nicolas Rashevsky’s Mathematical Biophysics TARA H. ABRAHAM Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Wilhelmstrae 44 10117 Berlin Germany E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. This paper explores the work of Nicolas Rashevsky, a Russian e´ migre´ the- oretical physicist who developed a program in ‘‘mathematical biophysics’’ at the Uni- versity of Chicago during the 1930s. Stressing the complexity of many biological phenomena, Rashevsky argued that the methods of theoretical physics – namely mathematics – were needed to ‘‘simplify’’ complex biological processes such as cell division and nerve conduction. A maverick of sorts, Rashevsky was a conspicuous figure in the biological community during the 1930s and early 1940s: he participated in several Cold Spring Harbor symposia and received several years of funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. However, in contrast to many other physicists who moved into biology, Rashevsky’s work was almost entirely theoretical, and he eventually faced resistance to his mathematical methods. Through an examination of the conceptual, institutional, and scientific context of Rashevsky’s work, this paper seeks to understand some of the reasons behind this resistance. Keywords: Mathematical biology, Neurophysiology, Nicolas Rashevsky, Physiology, Rockefeller Foundation, Theory, University of Chicago, Warren Weaver Introduction The migration of physicists into the biological sciences during the early 20th century has been a topic of interest in the history and philosophy of biology, with associated issues of the disciplinary authority of physics, the autonomy of biology, and the reduction of biological phenomena to physical terms.1 Most often, these migrations 1 The relationship between physics and biology has occupied Anglo-American phi- losophers of science in the 20th century, as they inherited a set of questions posed by logical positivists during the 1930s. -
Outsiders As Innovators in the Life Sciences
Dartmouth College Dartmouth Digital Commons Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty Faculty Work 12-1-2006 Outsiders as Innovators in the Life Sciences Michael Dietrich Dartmouth College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa Part of the Biology Commons Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation Dietrich, Michael, "Outsiders as Innovators in the Life Sciences" (2006). Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty. 34. https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/34 This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Work at Dartmouth Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty by an authorized administrator of Dartmouth Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. oren harman & michael r. dietrich introduction outsiders as innovators in the life sciences introduction Both intellectually and institutionally, the life sciences oc- cupy a fascinating middle ground between the physical and exact sciences, on the one hand, and the social sciences and humanities on the other. If biology were an animal, it would be a duck- billed platypus— something that appears chimeric, yet is fully rooted in its own historical lineage of accumu- lating adaptations, tinkering, and change. Like that strange aquatic mammal, “half bird, half beast,”1 its features point to its origins and ecol ogy. Biology as a science has come into being as a patchwork, assuming its present visage as a consequence of myriad interactions between diff erent traditions of knowledge, method, and phi- losophy while maintaining an overarching quest for understanding of the natural world. -
From L'homme Machine to Metabolic Closure Steps Towards
Journal of Theoretical Biology 286 (2011) 100–113 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Theoretical Biology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yjtbi 50th Anniversary Year Review From L’Homme Machine to metabolic closure: Steps towards understanding life Juan-Carlos Letelier a, Marı´a Luz Ca´rdenas b, Athel Cornish-Bowden b,Ã a Departamento de Biologı´a, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile b Unite´ de Bioe´nerge´tique et Inge´nierie des Prote´ines, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 31 chemin Joseph-Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France article info abstract Available online 12 July 2011 The nature of life has been a topic of interest from the earliest of times, and efforts to explain it in Keywords: mechanistic terms date at least from the 18th century. However, the impressive development of Origin of life molecular biology since the 1950s has tended to have the question put on one side while biologists (M,R) systems explore mechanisms in greater and greater detail, with the result that studies of life as such have been Autopoiesis confined to a rather small group of researchers who have ignored one another’s work almost Chemoton completely, often using quite different terminology to present very similar ideas. Central among these Self-organization ideas is that of closure, which implies that all of the catalysts needed for an organism to stay alive must be produced by the organism itself, relying on nothing apart from food (and hence chemical energy) from outside. The theories that embody this idea to a greater or less degree are known by a variety of names, including (M,R) systems, autopoiesis, the chemoton, the hypercycle, symbiosis, autocatalytic sets, sysers and RAF sets. -
THE INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS of the Mcculloch
JHBS—WILEY RIGHT BATCH Top of ID Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 38(1), 3–25 Winter 2002 ᭧ 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (PHYSIO)LOGICAL CIRCUITS: THE INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS OF THE Base of 1st McCULLOCH–PITTS NEURAL NETWORKS line of ART TARA H. ABRAHAM This article examines the intellectual and institutional factors that contributed to the col- laboration of neuropsychiatrist Warren McCulloch and mathematician Walter Pitts on the logic of neural networks, which culminated in their 1943 publication, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.” Historians and scientists alike often refer to the McCulloch–Pitts paper as a landmark event in the history of cybernetics, and funda- mental to the development of cognitive science and artificial intelligence. This article seeks to bring some historical context to the McCulloch–Pitts collaboration itself, namely, their intellectual and scientific orientations and backgrounds, the key concepts that contributed to their paper, and the institutional context in which their collaboration was made. Al- though they were almost a generation apart and had dissimilar scientific backgrounds, McCulloch and Pitts had similar intellectual concerns, simultaneously motivated by issues in philosophy, neurology, and mathematics. This article demonstrates how these issues converged and found resonance in their model of neural networks. By examining the intellectual backgrounds of McCulloch and Pitts as individuals, it will be shown that besides being an important event in the history of cybernetics proper, the McCulloch– Pitts collaboration was an important result of early twentieth-century efforts to apply mathematics to neurological phenomena. ᭧ 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. -
SMB Newsletter Volume 23 #2 - May 2010
SMB Newsletter Volume 23 #2 - May 2010 Inside this Issue: Letter from President.......................................................................................................................................2 2010 SIAM Great Lakes conference on Modeling and Numerical PDEs in Mathematical Biology..............3 VCU/NHLBI Spring 2010 Conference........................................................................................................4-5 African Society for Biomathematics Inaugural Conference........................................................................6-7 Nicolas Rashevsky...........................................................................................................................................7 Systems approaches in immunology: advances and challenges in multi-scale modeling...........................8-9 My Career in Math Biology: Leon Glass.................................................................................................10-11 First International Workshop “Mathematical Methods in Systems Biology”..........................................12-13 Center and Institute Updates....................................................................................................................14-15 Dynamical Systems Applied to Biology and Natural Science................................................................16-17 Positions Available..................................................................................................................................17-19 SMB 2010 Updates....................................................................................................................................20 -
Mathematical Biology, an Interdisciplinary Future
Quarterly newsletter Last quarter 2014 / First quarter 2015 CSIC - UAM - UC3M - UCM EDITORIAL Mathematical Biology, an interdisciplinary future Mathematical Biology is a scientific field devoted to the study networks in epidemiology requires ideas belonging to graph theory; of biological processes using mathematical techniques. It is an combinatorial algebra is applied to systems control in ecology; the area where the interests of biologists and mathematicians mainly topological branch of knot theory describes the way in which a DNA converge, and to a lesser extent those of researchers from other molecule is configured; research into molecular genetics requires branches of knowledge. certain stochastic processes (Markov chains and processes, branching processes, Brownian motion, diffusion processes); Monte Carlo It is without doubt an attractive field that is now on the rise. It has Markov chains and numerical methods based on the theory of large progressed rapidly during the last two decades and has modified deviations are found in the simulation of rare events in biological the controversial, historical relation between experimental science, models; linear and nonlinear models in neurobiology employ Biology, and Mathematics, the latter being characterized by its deterministic and stochastic partial differential equations; in addition, degree of abstraction. Traditionally, biologists have not disguised measured or sampled data lead to goodness of fit and estimation their mistrust in the contributions made by mathematicians, on the procedures in statistics. grounds that the level of complexity of living beings could not be translated into terms provided by a handful of equations. At present, Computational advances in recent decades and the development of the close interaction between professionals belonging to both fields new numerical methods have enabled the diverse challenges faced has made these equations into a mathematical synthesis capable of encapsulating the essential aspects of a biological reality while leaving other superficial considerations aside. -
Computer Simulation of Neural Networks Using Spreadsheets: the Dawn of the Age of Camelot
Педагогiка вищої та середньої школи 2019. Випуск 51. C. 159–191 УДК 004.94:37.091.39 Computer Simulation of Neural Networks Using Spreadsheets: The Dawn of the Age of Camelot Serhiy O. Semerikov1[0000−0003−0789−0272], Illia O. Teplytskyi1, Yuliia V. Yechkalo2[0000−0002−0164−8365] and Arnold E. Kiv3 1 Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University, 54, Gagarina Ave., Kryvyi Rih, 50086, Ukraine [email protected] 2 State Institution of Higher Education “Kryvyi Rih National University”, 11, Vitali Matusevich St., Kryvyi Rih, 50027, Ukraine [email protected] 3 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheba, Israel [email protected] Abstract. The article substantiates the necessity to develop training methods of computer simulation of neural networks in the spreadsheet environment. The systematic review of their application to simulating artificial neural networks is performed. The authors distinguish basic approaches to solving the problem of network computer simulation training in the spreadsheet environment, joint application of spreadsheets and tools of neural network simulation, application of third-party add-ins to spreadsheets, development of macros using the embedded languages of spreadsheets; use of standard spreadsheet add-ins for non-linear optimization, creation of neural networks in the spreadsheet environment without add-ins and macros. After analyzing a collection of writings of 1890–1950, the research determines the role of the scientific journal “Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics”, its founder Nicolas Rashevsky and the scientific community around the journal in creating and developing models and methods of computational neuroscience. There are identified psychophysical basics of creating neural networks, mathematical foundations of neural computing and methods of neuroengineering (image recognition, in particular). -
The Unfinished Project of Theoretical Biology from a Schellingian Perspective
Swinburne Research Bank http://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au Author: Gare, A. Title: Overcoming the Newtonian paradigm: the unfinished project of theoretical biology from a Schellingian perspective Year: 2013 Journal: Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology Volume: 113 Issue: 1 Pages: 5-24 URL: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2013.03.002 Copyright: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. This is the author’s version of the work, posted here with the permission of the publisher for your personal use. No further distribution is permitted. You may also be able to access the published version from your library. The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Swinburne University of Technology | CRICOS Provider 00111D | swinburne.edu.au Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 1 Overcoming the Newtonian paradigm: The unfinished project of theoretical biology from a Schellingian perspective Arran Gare* Philosophy, Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia Keywords: Reductionism; Emergence; Epigenesis; Biosemiotics; Relational biology; Teleology; Biomathics ABSTRACT: Defending Robert Rosen’s claim that in every confrontation between physics and biology it is physics that has always had to give ground, it is shown that many of the most important advances in mathematics and physics over the last two centuries have followed from Schelling’s demand for a new physics that could make the emergence of life intelligible. Consequently, while reductionism prevails in biology, many biophysicists are resolutely anti-reductionist. This history is used to identify and defend a fragmented but progressive tradition of anti-reductionist biomathematics. It is shown that the mathematico-physico-chemico morphology research program, the biosemiotics movement, and the relational biology of Rosen, although they have developed independently of each other, are built on and advance this anti-reductionist tradition of thought. -
Guide to the Nicolas Rashevsky Papers 1920-1972
University of Chicago Library Guide to the Nicolas Rashevsky Papers 1920-1972 © 2014 University of Chicago Library Table of Contents Descriptive Summary 3 Information on Use 3 Access 3 Citation 3 Biographical Note 3 Scope Note 5 Related Resources 6 Subject Headings 6 INVENTORY 7 Series I: Personal 7 Series II: Correspondence 7 Series III: Writings 18 Subseries 1: Books 18 Subseries 2: Articles and Chapters in Edited Volumes 20 Subseries 3: Lectures 24 Subseries 4: Offprints and Reprints 24 Series IV: Writings by Others 26 Series V: Academic and Professional Service 28 Series VI: Grant Applications and Fundraising 33 Series VII: Oversize 34 Series VIII: Restricted 34 Descriptive Summary Identifier ICU.SPCL.RASHEVSKYN Title Rashevsky, Nicolas. Papers Date 1920-1972 Size 17.25 linear feet (34 boxes) Repository Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A. Abstract The collection contains the papers of Nicolas Rashevsky (1899-1972), a theoretical mathematician and biologist. He founded the first organized group on Mathematical Biology in the world and established the field of Mathematical Biology as an organized and recognized science. The collection includes correspondence, material pertaining to Rashevsky's research and writing, and material relevant to his professional activities and grant applications. The majority of the collection is from the period in which he served as a professor at the University of Chicago (1934-1964). Information on Use Access The collection is open for research, with the exception of material in Series VIII. Financial materials in Box 33 are restricted for 50 years from date of record creation. -
Logico-Empiricism's Philosophy of Biology 1934/36
Erschienen in: Philosophia Scientiæ ; 22 (2018), 3. - S. 233-255 “Wrongful Life” Reloaded: Logical empiricism’s philosophy of biology 1934-1936 (Prague/Paris/Copenhagen): With historical and political intermezzos Gereon Wolters University of Konstanz (Germany) Résumé : Ce chapitre reprend, en l’enrichissant, un article antérieur sur la philosophie de la biologie de l’empirisme logique, en en examinant les thèses centrales telles qu’elles sont exprimées lors des rencontres de Prague (1934), de Paris (1935) et de Copenhague (1936), rencontres décisives pour le développe- ment du mouvement et son rayonnement dans le monde occidental. Je montre que l’empirisme logique n’a pas contribué au développement de la philosophie de la biologie, comme il l’a fait pour celui de la philosophie de la physique ou des mathématiques. Les raisons de cet échec sont triples : 1o ) les empiristes logiques n’avaient qu’une vague connaissance des sciences biologiques ; 2o ) ils se sont focalisés sur un cadre stérile (idéologique), l’antivitalisme et le réductionisme, qu’ils prenaient pour la philosophie de la biologie ; 3o ) cela les a empêchés de traiter des véritables problèmes de la biologie. Entre les différentes sections de ce chapitre, j’insère des « intermezzos » qui replacent différents protagonistes de ces rencontres dans un contexte plus large (la grande guerre, les persécutions, le langage). Abstract: I offer a revision (“reload”) of an earlier paper on logical- empiricism’s philosophy of biology by locating its central theses in the context of the international conferences of Prague (1934), Paris (1935), and Copenhagen (1936), so important for the development of logical empiricism and its spread in the Western world. -
The Dawn of Mathematical Biology 1. Introduction the Modern Era
The Dawn of Mathematical Biology Daniel Sander Hoffmann Computer Engineering Unit. UERGS, RS, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract In this paper I describe the early development of the so-called mathematical biophysics, as conceived by Nicolas Rashevsky back in the 1920´s, as well as his latter idealization of a “relational biology”. I also underline that the creation of the journal “The Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics” was instrumental in legitimating the efforts of Rashevsky and his students, and I finally argue that his pioneering efforts, while still largely unacknowledged, were vital for the development of important scientific contributions, most notably the McCulloch-Pitts model of neural networks. Keywords: Mathematical biophysics; Neural networks; Relational biology. 1. Introduction The modern era of theoretical biology can be classified into “foundations,” “physics and chemistry,” “cybernetics” and “mathematical biophysics” (Morowitz, 1965). According to this author, an important part of the history of the modern era in theoretical biology dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century, with the publication of D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s opus “On Growth and Form” (Thompson, 1917), closely followed by works like the “Elements of Physical Biology” of Alfred J. Lotka (1925). Some authors tracked Lotka’s ideas closely, yielding books such as “Leçons sur la Théorie Mathématique de la Lutte pour la Vie,” by Vito Volterra (1931), and Kostitzin’s “Biologie Mathématique” (Kostitzin, 1937). Mathematics and ecology do share a long coexistence, and mathematical ecology is currently one of the most developed areas of the theoretical sciences taken as a whole. Genetics is another example of great success in modern applied mathematics, its history beginning (at least) as early as in the second decade of the last century, when J. -
Who's Afraid of Max Delbrück?
Who's Afraid of Max Delbr¨uck? John J. Vastola Department of Physics and Astronomy Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN 37235, USA Labels say nothing about nature, but they do say something about the people studying it. In practice, whether one calls oneself a physicist, biologist, or something else is thought to have real sociological consequences|for getting academic jobs, getting funded, and getting published, among other things. These questions of academic identity can become particularly conspicuous for those researchers that work on the boundary of multiple disciplines, who may for professional reasons feel the need to assert that they are a member of one tribe over another. As Martin notes in an account of the recent rise of condensed-matter physics, its success \is a story of categories and why they matter." Identifying condensed-matter physics as a distinct subdiscipline \made a statement about the type of activity physics was supposed to be", and \drew a line between who was a physicist and who wasn't". Even the rebranding of \solid-state physics" to \condensed-matter physics" in the 1960s and 1970s was an effort to emphasize the intellectual value and conceptual unity of the field as much as it was an attempt to accurately describe it.1 Nowadays, with some flavor of condensed-matter physics being the dominant activity of most working physicists, there is no longer any real dispute regarding whether it counts as legitimate physics. The story may be repeating again on the interface of physics and biology. In 2020, the National Academies explicitly included \Biological Physics/The Physics of Living Systems" for the first time in its decadal survey of US research,2 a sign that it is increasingly thought of as truly a part of physics, rather than just physics applied to an outside subject.