From the reviews: "...Here we have a book which we can wholeheartedly suggest. The mathematics is sound and pared to essentials; the examples are an impressive, well-chosen selection from the biomathematics literature, and the problem sets provide both useful exercises and some fine introductions to the art of modeling... Batschelet has written an introduction to biomathematics which is notable for its clarity - not only a clarity of presentation, but also a clarity of purpose, backed by a sure grasp of the field..." #Bulletin of Mathematical Biology#1 "For research workers in the biomedical field who feel a need for freshening up their knowledge in mathematics, but so far have always been frustrated by either too formal or too boring textbooks, there is now exactly what they would like to have: an easy to read introduction. This book is highly motivating for practical workers because only those mathematical techniques are offered for which there is an application in the life sciences. The reader will find it stimulating that each tool described is immediately exemplified by problems from latest publications." #Int. Zeitschrift für klinische Pharmakologie, Therapie und Toxikologie#2

Introductory Mathematics for the Life Sciences offers a straightforward introduction to the mathematical principles needed for studies in the life sciences. Starting with the basics of numbers, fractions, ratios, and percentages, the author explains progressively more sophisticated concepts, from algebra, measurement, and scientific notation through the linear, power, exponential, and logarithmic functions to introductory statistics. Worked examples illustrate concepts, applications, and interpretations, and exercises at the end of each chapter help readers apply and practice the skills they develop. Answers to the exercises are posted at the end of the text.

A few decades ago mathematics played a modest role in life sciences. Today, however, a great variety of mathematical methods is applied in biology and medicine. Practically every mathematical procedure that is useful in physics, chemistry, engineering, and economics has also found an important application in the life sciences. The past and present training of life scientists does by no means reflect this development. However, the impact of the fast growing number of applications of mathematical methods makes it indispensable that students in the life sciences are offered a basic training in mathematics, both on the undergraduate and the graduate level. This book is primarily designed as a textbook for an introductory course. Life scientists may also use it as a reference to find mathematical methods suitable to their research problems. Moreover, the book should be appropriate for self-teaching. It will also be a guide for teachers. Numerous references are included to assist the reader in his search for the pertinent literature.

The book provides a unique collection of in-depth mathematical, statistical, and modeling methods and techniques for life sciences, as well as their applications in a number of areas within life sciences. The book provides also with a range of new ideas that represent emerging frontiers in life sciences where the application of such quantitative methods and techniques is becoming increasingly important. Many areas within life sciences are becoming increasingly quantitative and the progress in those areas will be more and more dependent on the successful development of advanced mathematical, statistical and modelling methodologies and techniques. The state-of-the-art developments in such methodologies and techniques are scattered throughout research journals and hardly accessible to the practitioners in those areas. This book identifies a number of frontier areas where such methodologies and techniques have recently been developed and are to be published here for the first time, bringing substantial potential benefit to a range of applications in life sciences. In addition, the book contains several state-of-the-art surveys at the interface of mathematics and life sciences that would benefit a larger interdisciplinary community. It is aimed at researchers in academia, practitioners and graduate students who want to foster interdisciplinary collaborations required to meet the challenges at the interface of modern life sciences and mathematics.

​ ​​ Mathematics for the Life Sciences provides present and future biologists with the mathematical concepts and tools needed to understand and use mathematical models and read advanced mathematical biology books. It presents mathematics in biological contexts, focusing on the central mathematical ideas, and providing detailed explanations. The author assumes no mathematics background beyond algebra and precalculus. Calculus is presented as a one-chapter primer that is suitable for readers who have not studied the subject before, as well as readers who have taken a calculus course and need a review. This primer is followed by a novel chapter on mathematical modeling that begins with discussions of biological data and the basic principles of modeling. The remainder of the chapter introduces the reader to topics in mechanistic modeling (deriving models from biological assumptions) and empirical modeling (using data to parameterize and select models). The modeling chapter contains a thorough treatment of key ideas and techniques that are often neglected in mathematics books. It also provides the reader with a sophisticated viewpoint and the essential background needed to make full use of the remainder of the book, which includes two chapters on probability and its applications to inferential statistics and three chapters on discrete and continuous dynamical systems. The biological content of the book is self-contained and includes many basic biology topics such as the genetic code, Mendelian genetics, population dynamics, predator-prey relationships, epidemiology, and immunology. The large number of problem sets include some drill problems along with a large number of case studies. The latter are divided into step-by-step problems and sorted into the appropriate section, allowing readers to gradually develop complete investigations from understanding the biological assumptions to a complete analysis.

An accessible undergraduate textbook on the essential math concepts used in the life sciences The life sciences deal with a vast array of problems at different spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. The mathematics necessary to describe, model, and analyze these problems is similarly diverse, incorporating quantitative techniques that are rarely taught in standard undergraduate courses. This textbook provides an accessible introduction to these critical mathematical concepts, linking them to biological observation and theory while also presenting the computational tools needed to address problems not readily investigated using mathematics alone. Proven in the classroom and requiring only a background in high school math, Mathematics for the Life Sciences doesn't just focus on calculus as do most other textbooks on the subject. It covers deterministic methods and those that incorporate uncertainty, problems in discrete and continuous time, probability, graphing and data analysis, matrix modeling, difference equations, differential equations, and much more. The book uses MATLAB throughout, explaining how to use it, write code, and connect models to data in examples chosen from across the life sciences. Provides undergraduate life science students with a succinct overview of major mathematical concepts that are essential for modern biology Covers all the major quantitative concepts that national reports have identified as the ideal components of an entry-level course for life science students Provides good background for the MCAT, which now includes data-based and statistical reasoning Explicitly links data and math modeling Includes end-of-chapter homework problems, end-of-unit student projects, and select answers to homework problems Uses MATLAB throughout, and MATLAB m-files with an R supplement are available online Prepares students to read with comprehension the growing quantitative literature across the life sciences A solutions manual for professors and an illustration package is available

There is a gap between the extensive mathematics background that is beneficial to biologists and the minimal mathematics background biology students acquire in their courses. The result is an undergraduate education in biology with very little quantitative content. New mathematics courses must be devised with the needs of biology students in mind. In this volume, authors from a variety of institutions address some of the problems involved in reforming mathematics curricula for biology students. The problems are sorted into three themes: Models, Processes, and Directions. It is difficult for mathematicians to generate curriculum ideas for the training of biologists so a number of the curriculum models that have been introduced at various institutions comprise the Models section. Processes deals with taking that great course and making sure it is institutionalized in both the biology department (as a requirement) and in the mathematics department (as a course that will live on even if the creator of the course is no longer on the faculty). Directions looks to the future, with each paper laying out a case for pedagogical developments that the authors would like to see.

The aim of this book is to introduce the subject of mathematical modeling in the life sciences. It is intended for students of mathematics, the physical sciences, and engineering who are curious about biology. Additionally, it will be useful to students of the life sciences and medicine who are unsatisfied with mere description and who seek an understanding of biological mechanism and dynamics through the use of mathematics. The book will be particularly useful to premedical students, because it will introduce them not only to a collection of mathematical methods but also to an assortment of phenomena involving genetics, epidemics, and the physiology of the heart, lung, and kidney. Because of its introductory character, mathematical prerequisites are kept to a minimum; they involve only what is usually covered in the first semester of a calculus sequence. The authors have drawn on their extensive experience as modelers to select examples which are simple enough to be understood at this elementary level and yet realistic enough to capture the essence of significant biological phenomena drawn from the areas of population dynamics and physiology. Because the models presented are realistic, the book can serve not only as an introduction to mathematical methods but also as a mathematical introduction to the biological material itself. For the student, who enjoys mathematics, such an introduction will be far more stimulating and satisfying than the purely descriptive approach that is traditional in the biological sciences.

The purpose of this volume is to present and discuss the many rich properties of the dynamical systems that appear in life science and medicine. It provides a fascinating survey of the theory of dynamical systems in biology and medicine. Each chapter will serve to introduce students and scholars to the state-of-the-art in an exciting area, to present new results, and to inspire future contributions to mathematical modeling in life science and medicine.

For two weeks in August, 1975 more than 140 mathematicians and other scientists gathered at the Universite de Sherbrooke. The occasion was the 15th Biennial Seminar of the Canadian Mathematical Congress, entitled Mathematics and the Life Sciences. Participants in this inter disciplinary gathering included researchers and graduate students in mathematics, seven different areas of biological science, physics, chemistry and medical science. Geographically, those present came from the United States and the United Kingdom as well as from academic departments and government agencies scattered across Canada. In choosing this particular interdisciplinary topic the programme committee had two chief objectives. These were to promote Canadian research in mathematical problems of the life sciences, and to encourage co-operation and exchanges between mathematical scientists" biologists and medical re searchers. To accomplish these objective the committee assembled a stim ulating programme of lectures and talks. Six principal lecturers each delivered a series of five one-hour lectures in which various aspects of the interaction between mathematics and the life sciences were considered. In addition researchers working in the areas of health, population biology, physiology and development biology and disease processes were invited to give more than 25 hours of complementary talks.