Product Description

Thirty years ago, biologists could get by with a rudimentary grasp of mathematics and modeling. Not so today. In seeking to answer fundamental questions about how biological systems function and change over time, the modern biologist is as likely to rely on sophisticated mathematical and computer-based models as traditional fieldwork. In this book, Sarah Otto and Troy Day provide biology students with the tools necessary to both interpret models and to build their own.

The book starts at an elementary level of mathematical modeling, assuming that the reader has had high school mathematics and first-year calculus. Otto and Day then gradually build in depth and complexity, from classic models in ecology and evolution to more intricate class-structured and probabilistic models. The authors provide primers with instructive exercises to introduce readers to the more advanced subjects of linear algebra and probability theory. Through examples, they describe how models have been used to understand such topics as the spread of HIV, chaos, the age structure of a country, speciation, and extinction.

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists today need enough mathematical training to be able to assess the power and limits of biological models and to develop theories and models themselves. This innovative book will be an indispensable guide to the world of mathematical models for the next generation of biologists.

• A how-to guide for developing new mathematical models in biology
• Provides step-by-step recipes for constructing and analyzing models
• Interesting biological applications
• Explores classical models in ecology and evolution
• Questions at the end of every chapter
• Primers cover important mathematical topics
• Exercises with answers
• Appendixes summarize useful rules
• Labs and advanced material available

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107920 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 752 pages

Review
A gentle but thorough introduction to the mathematical techniques employed in ecological and evolutionary theory. Readers who . . . finish this well-written book will be prepared to read and understand a sizeable fraction of the current literature.
(Donald L. DeAngelis Quarterly Review of Biology )

At long last, Sally Otto and Troy Day have provided relief for biologists and epidemiologists in search of an easily read, practical, and thorough starting point from which to learn mathematical modeling. . . . We would recommend this book over shorter texts that are labeled as 'introductory'. . . . The depth and detail that Otto and Day have included in this text arc appealing rather than intimidating, and the structure of the text is empowering rather than didactic or formulaic.
(Sanjay Basu and Alison P. Galvani Siam Review )

[T]he great value of the Otto/Day book is that it attempts pedagogical soundness, and so is useful for teaching. Besides being perfectly readable, it engages and impresses the reader quickly not only with the subject matter, but also with the quality of printing and layout which have to be seen to be believed. These praises may sound lavish by many a reader of these columns but first see the book or better still buy the volume and you will see our passion and rage for going all out in praise of this volume.
(Current Engineering Practice )

I highly recommend this book for every university biology department because it provides both a unique, and often uplifting, introduction and a comprehensive reference of techniques for building and analysing mathematical models.
(Volker Grimm Basic and Applied Ecology )

Review
A wonderfully pedagogical introduction to mathematical modeling in population biology: an ideal first course for biologists.
(Simon A. Levin, Princeton University )

From the Inside Flap

"A wonderfully pedagogical introduction to mathematical modeling in population biology: an ideal first course for biologists."--Simon A. Levin, Princeton University

"This book is an amazing teaching resource for developing a comprehensive understanding of the methods and importance of biological modeling. But more than that, this book should be read by every student of evolutionary biology and ecology so that they can come to a deeper appreciation of the fundamental ideas and models that underlie these fields."--Patrick C. Phillips, University of Oregon

"There is an increasing use of mathematics throughout the biological sciences, yet the training of most biologists still woefully lacks crucial mathematical tools. Sally Otto and Troy Day are themselves two masters at the deft use of theoretical models to crystallize conceptual insights about ecological and evolutionary problems, and in this wonderful book they make accessible to a broad audience the essential mathematical tool kit biologists need, both to read the literature and to craft and analyze models themselves."--Robert D. Holt, University of Florida

"I am often asked by biologists to recommend a book on mathematical modeling, but I must tell them that there is no single good book that will guide them through the difficult first stages of learning to make models. Otto and Day's book fills the gap. The quality is high throughout, the scholarship is sound, the book is comprehensive. The authors are both first-rate scientists. I think this will be a classic."--Steven A. Frank, author of Immunology and Evolution of Infectious Disease

"This book provides a general introduction to mathematical modeling--in particular, to population modeling--in the biological sciences. This past year I taught a 400-level course in mathematical modeling of biological systems, and I had to do so without a textbook because no adequate text existed. Otto and Day's book would have met my needs beautifully. This book is an important addition to the field."--Carl Bergstrom, University of Washington

"This book has the ambitious and worthy goal of teaching biologists enough about modeling and about mathematical methods to be both intelligent consumers of models and competent creators of their own models. Its concentration on the process of building rather than analyzing models is its strongest point."--Frederick R. Adler, author of Modeling the Dynamics of Life: Calculus and Probability for Life Scientists

Customer Reviews

If you are an evolutionary biologist or ecologist and you want to get into modelling buy this book.
This is an excellent and very comprehensive text written in a biologist friendly style but that still delivers almost all of the maths you are ever likely to need in mathematical biology.

Books like Edelstein-Keshet and Murray are written from a much more mathematical background and tend to use notation and concepts that are hard for non-mathematicians to grasp. Maths phobia is a serious barrier to biologists entering the field, where we need biological as well as mathematical insight.

This book introduces the mathemtical concepts as they are needed by way of a series of primers. The rest of the book is filled with examples that concentrate on the biology rather than the mathematical techniques. There are also chapters that explain the methods of model building and the reasoning behind model building.

For me this is a perfect graduate level or third year undergraduate level text.

A smooth yet strong introduction to mathematical modelling
This textbook is a great primer for biologists and/or bioinformaticians with straightforward and step-by-step examples illustrating the modeller's workflow.

The authors focus on practical application and avoid overly technical perspectives. Knowledge of undergraduate mathematics (statistics and the like) is very helpful but not strictly essential to benefit from this text.