· 2008
This textbook provides students with a fresh perspective of quantitative techniques in biology in a field where virtually any advance in the life sciences requires a sophisticated mathematical approach. It is written by a team of experienced educators, and offers students a solid understanding of solving biological problems with mathematical applications. It succeeds in enabling students to truly experience advancements made in biology through mathematical models by containing computer-based hands-on laboratory projects with emphasis on model development, model validation, and model refinement.
Laboratory Manual of Biomathematics is a companion to the textbook An Invitation to Biomathematics. This laboratory manual expertly aids students who wish to gain a deeper understanding of solving biological issues with computer programs. It provides hands-on exploration of model development, model validation, and model refinement, enabling students to truly experience advancements made in biology by mathematical models. Each of the projects offered can be used as individual module in traditional biology or mathematics courses such as calculus, ordinary differential equations, elementary probability, statistics, and genetics. Biological topics include: Ecology, Toxicology, Microbiology, Epidemiology, Genetics, Biostatistics, Physiology, Cell Biology, and Molecular Biology . Mathematical topics include Discrete and continuous dynamical systems, difference equations, differential equations, probability distributions, statistics, data transformation, risk function, statistics, approximate entropy, periodic components, and pulse-detection algorithms. It includes more than 120 exercises derived from ongoing research studies. This text is designed for courses in mathematical biology, undergraduate biology majors, as well as general mathematics. The reader is not expected to have any extensive background in either math or biology. Can be used as a computer lab component of a course in biomathematics or as homework projects for independent student work Biological topics include: Ecology, Toxicology, Microbiology, Epidemiology, Genetics, Biostatistics, Physiology, Cell Biology, and Molecular Biology Mathematical topics include: Discrete and continuous dynamical systems, difference equations, differential equations, probability distributions, statistics, data transformation, risk function, statistics, approximate entropy, periodic components, and pulse-detection algorithms Includes more than 120 exercises derived from ongoing research studies
The goal of this unique text is to provide an “experience” that would facilitate a better transition for mathematics majors to the advanced proof-based courses required for their major. If you feel like you love mathematics but hate proofs, this book is for you. The change from example-based courses such as Introductory Calculus to the proof-based courses in the major is often abrupt, and some students are left with the unpleasant feeling that a subject they loved has turned into material they find hard to understand. The book exposes students and readers to some fundamental content and essential methods of constructing mathematical proofs in the context of four main courses required for the mathematics major – probability, linear algebra, real analysis, and abstract algebra. Following an optional foundational chapter on background material, four short chapters, each focusing on a particular course, provide a slow-paced but rigorous introduction. Students get a preview of the discipline, its focus, language, mathematical objects of interest, and methods of proof commonly used in the field. The organization of the book helps to focus on the specific methods of proof and main ideas that will be emphasized in each of the courses. The text may also be used as a review tool at the end of each course and for readers who want to learn the language and scope of the broad disciplines of linear algebra, abstract algebra, real analysis, and probability, before transitioning to these courses.