Theoretical biology
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209432123
2008-05-01T11:04:05Z
Alan Liefting
36352
-redund cat
'''Theoretical biology''' is a field of academic study and research that involves the use of [[model]]s and [[theory|theories]] in [[biology]].
Many separate areas of biology fall under the concept of theoretical biology, according to the way they are studied. Some of these areas include: animal behaviour ([[ethology]]), [[biomechanics]], [[biorhythm]]s, [[cell biology]], [[complexity]] of biological systems, [[ecology]], [[enzyme kinetics]], [[evolutionary biology]], [[genetics]], [[immunology]], [[membrane transport]], [[microbiology]], [[Molecular geometry|molecular structure]]s, [[morphogenesis]], [[physiology|physiological mechanisms]], [[systems biology]] and the [[origin of life]]. [[Neuroscience|Neurobiology]] is an example of a subdiscipline of biology which already has a theoretical version of its own, theoretical or [[computational neuroscience]].
The ultimate goal of the theoretical biologist is to explain the biological world using mainly [[mathematics|mathematical]] and [[computer|computational]] tools. Though it is ultimately based on observations and experimental results, the theoretical biologist's product is a model or theory, and it is this that chiefly distinguishes the theoretical biologist from other biologists.
==Theoretical biologists==
*[[Pere Alberch]]
*[[Ludwig von Bertalanffy]]
*[[Jack Cowan]]
*[[Francis Crick]]
*[[Claus Emmeche]]
*[[Marc Feldman]]
*[[Brian Goodwin]]
*[[Bryan Grenfell]]
*[[J. B. S. Haldane]]
*[[Lionel G. Harrison]]
*[[Michael Hassell]]
*[[Sven Erik Jørgensen]]
*[[Stuart Kauffman]]
*[[Kalevi Kull]]
*[[Richard Lewontin]]
*[[Humberto Maturana]]
*[[Robert May]]
*[[John Maynard Smith]]
*[[James D. Murray]]
*[[Howard Pattee]]
*[[Erik Rauch]]
*[[Nicolas Rashevsky]]
*[[Johannes Reinke]]
*[[Robert Rosen]]
*[[Peter Schuster]]
*[[Rene Thom]]
*[[D'Arcy Thompson]]
*[[Jakob von Uexküll]]
*[[Robert Ulanowicz]]
*[[Francisco Varela]]
*[[C. H. Waddington]]
*[[Arthur Winfree]]
*[[Lewis Wolpert]]
*[[Christopher Zeeman]]
==See also==
*[[Journal of Theoretical Biology]]
*[[Bioinformatics]]
*[[Biosemiotics]]
*[[Mathematical biology]]
*[[Theoretical ecology]]
*[[Artificial life]]
==Bibliographical references==
* Bonner, J. T. 1988. ''The Evolution of Complexity by Means of Natural Selection''. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
* Hertel, H. 1963. ''Structure, Form, Movement''. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp.
* Mangel, M. 1990. ''Special Issue, Classics of Theoretical Biology'' (part 1). Bull. Math. Biol. 52(1/2): 1-318.
* Prusinkiewicz, P. & Lindenmeyer, A. 1990. ''The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants''. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
* [[Johannes Reinke|Reinke, J.]] 1901. ''Einleitung in die theoretische Biologie''. Berlin: Verlag von Gebrüder Paetel.
* [[D'Arcy Thompson|Thompson, D.W.]] 1942. ''On Growth and Form''. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2. vols.
* [[Jakob von Uexküll|Uexküll, J.v.]] 1920. ''Theoretische Biologie''. Berlin: Gebr. Paetel.
* Vogel, S. 1988. ''Life's Devices: The Physical World of Animals and Plants''. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
* [[C. H. Waddington|Waddington, C.H.]] 1968-1972. ''Towards a Theoretical Biology''. 4 vols. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.
==External links==
* [http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~c720126/humanethologie/ws/medicus/block1/inhalt.html Theory of Biological Anthropology (Documents No. 9 and 10 in English)]
* [http://www.scientistsolutions.com/t5844-Drawing+the+line+between+Theoretical+and+Basic+Biology.html Drawing the Line Between Theoretical and Basic Biology (a forum article by Isidro T. Savillo)]
===Related Journals===
* [http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=102835 Acta Biotheoretica]
* [http://bioinformatics.oupjournals.org/ Bioinformatics]
* [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/biot/ Biological Theory]
* [http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biosystems BioSystems]
* [http://www.springerlink.com/content/119979/ Bulletin of Mathematical Biology]
* [http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/03043800 Ecological Modelling]
* [http://www.springerlink.com/content/100436/ Journal of Mathematical Biology]
* [http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/0022-5193 Journal of Theoretical Biology]
* [http://publishing.royalsociety.org/index.cfm?page=1058# Journal of the Royal Society Interface]
* [http://www.elsevier.com/locate/mbs Mathematical Biosciences]
* [http://www.harcourt-international.com/journals/mehy/ Medical Hypotheses]
* [http://www.tilgher.it/biologiae.html Rivista di Biologia-Biology Forum]
* [http://www.springerlink.com/content/100386/ Theoretical and Applied Genetics]
* [http://www.tbiomed.com/ Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling]
* [http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/00405809 Theoretical Population Biology]
* [http://www.elsevier.com/wps/product/cws_home/701802 Theory in Biosciences] (formerly: Biologisches Zentralblatt)
===Related societies===
* [http://www.ams.org/ American Mathematical Society]
* [http://www.dundee.ac.uk/lifesciences/BSDB/ British Society of Developmental Biology]
* [http://www.maths.soton.ac.uk/EMIS European Mathematical Society]
* [http://www.esmtb.org/ ESMTB: European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology]
* [http://www.tibs.org/ The International Biometric Society]
* [http://www.isemna.org/ International Society for Ecological Modelling]
* [http://bioinformatics.weizmann.ac.il/istmb/ The Israeli Society for Theoretical and Mathematical Biology]
* [http://www.lms.ac.uk/ London Mathematical Society]
* [http://www.necker.fr/sfbt/ Société Francophone de Biologie Théorique]
* [http://www.siam.org/ Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics]
* [http://www.smb.org/ Society for Mathematical Biology]
* [http://www.biosemiotics.org/ International Society for Biosemiotic Studies]
[[Category:Theoretical biology| ]]
[[Category:Applied mathematics]]
[[Category:Bioinformatics|T]]
[[Category:Biostatistics]]
[[Category:Mathematical biology]]
[[de:Theoretische Biologie]]
[[et:Teoreetiline bioloogia]]
[[es:Biología teórica]]
[[ja:理論生物学]]
[[zh:理論生物學]]