Thinking About Biology

No science has ever been done without an indissoluble link between theory and fact: facts are colored by the theoretical spectacles on puts on, just as much as theory is shaped by the results of empirical observation. Theoretical biology is a broad and rapidly growing field where this link is actually explored with passion and discipline. The chapters of this book have been chosen to give the student of theoretical biology the flavor of current exciting research in the field. The eleven chapters are divided into three broad sections: the emergence of life, the development of the individual, and the study of the interaction between individuals and species.

Wilfred Stein is a professor in the Department of Biophysics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has worked extensively in the United States and the United Kingdom, most recently at the National Institutes of Health. His research interests are quite broad, including areas of biology such as membrane transport, models of cancer, and patterns of limb development. Francisco J. Varela is the director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, France. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, and has worked extensively in the United States, South America, and Europe. In 1985 he was the recipient of the Interamerican Science Prize for Biological Sciences. His research interest center around neural and immune networks, and global properties of biological organization. Wilfred Stein is a professor in the Department of Biophysics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has worked extensively in the United States and the United Kingdom, most recently at the National Institutes of Health. His research interests are quite broad, including areas of biology such as membrane transport, models of cancer, and patterns of limb development. Francisco J. Varela is the director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, France. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, and has worked extensively in the United States, South America, and Europe. In 1985 he was the recipient of the Interamerican Science Prize for Biological Sciences. His research interest center around neural and immune networks, and global properties of biological organization.