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Surveys the state of epidemic modelling, resulting from the NATO Advanced Workshop at the Newton Institute in 1993.
The book presents a general overview of mathematical models in the context of evolution. It covers a wide range of topics such as population genetics, population dynamics, speciation, adaptive dynamics, game theory, kin selection, and stochastic processes. Written by leading scientists working at the interface between evolutionary biology and mathematics the book is the outcome of a conference commemorating Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and the 150th anniversary of the first publication of his book "On the origin of species". Its chapters vary in format between general introductory and state-of-the-art research texts in biomathematics, in this way addressing both students and researchers in mathematics, biology and related fields. Mathematicians looking for new problems as well as biologists looking for rigorous description of population dynamics will find this book fundamental.
The summer school on Mathematics inspired by Biology was held at Martina Franca, Apulia, Italy in 1997. This volume presents five series of six lectures each. The common theme is the role of structure in shaping transient and ultimate dynamics. But the type of structure ranges from spatial (hadeler and maini in the deterministic setting, Durrett in the stochastic setting) to physiological (Diekmann) and order (Smith). Each contribution sketches the present state of affairs while, by including some wishful thinking, pointing at open problems that deserve attention.
This open access book features essays written by philosophers, biologists, ecologists and conservation scientists facing the current biodiversity crisis. Despite increasing communication, accelerating policy and management responses, and notwithstanding improving ecosystem assessment and endangered species knowledge, conserving biodiversity continues to be more a concern than an accomplished task. Why is it so?The overexploitation of natural resources by our species is a frequently recognised factor, while the short-term economic interests of governments and stakeholders typically clash with the burdens that implementing conservation actions imply. But this is not the whole story. This book develops a different perspective on the problem by exploring the conceptual challenges and practical defiance posed by conserving biodiversity, namely: on the one hand, the difficulties in defining what biodiversity is and characterizing that “thing” to which the word ‘biodiversity’ refers to; on the other hand, the reasons why assessing biodiversity and putting in place effective conservation actions is arduous.
As anthropogenic environmental changes spread and intensify across the planet, conservation biologists have to analyze dynamics at large spatial and temporal scales. Ecological and evolutionary processes are then closely intertwined. In particular, evolutionary responses to anthropogenic environmental change can be so fast and pronounced that conservation biology can no longer afford to ignore them. To tackle this challenge, areas of conservation biology that are disparate ought to be integrated into a unified framework. Bringing together conservation genetics, demography, and ecology, this book introduces evolutionary conservation biology as an integrative approach to managing species in conjunction with ecological interactions and evolutionary processes. Which characteristics of species and which features of environmental change foster or hinder evolutionary responses in ecological systems? How do such responses affect population viability, community dynamics, and ecosystem functioning? Under which conditions will evolutionary responses ameliorate, rather than worsen, the impact of environmental change?
This book offers a unique perspective on Zionism. The author, a geneticist by training, focuses on science, rather than history. He looks at the claims that Jews constitute a people with common biological roots. An argument that helps provide justification for the aspirations of this political movement dedicated to the return of the Jewish people to their homeland. His study explores two issues. The first considers the assertion that there is a biology of the Jews. The second deals with attempts to integrate this idea into a consistent history. Both issues unfolded against the background of a romantic national culture of Western Europe in the 19th century: Jews, primarily from Eastern Europe...
This edited volume presents papers on this alternative philosophy of biology that could be called “continental philosophy of biology,” and the variety of positions and solutions that it has spawned. In doing so, it contributes to debates in the history and philosophy of science and the history of philosophy of science, as well as to the craving for ‘history’ and/or ‘theory’ in the theoretical biological disciplines. In addition, however, it also provides inspiration for a broader image of philosophy of biology, in which these traditional issues may have a place. The volume devotes specific attention to the work of Georges Canguilhem, which is central to this alternative tradition of “continental philosophy of biology”. This is the first collection on Georges Canguilhem and the Continental tradition in philosophy of biology. The book should be of interest to philosophers of biology, continental philosophers, historians of biology and those interested in broader traditions in philosophy of science.
This root-and-branch re-evaluation of Darwin’s concept of sexual selection tackles the subject from historical, epistemological and theoretical perspectives. Contributions from a wealth of disciplines have been marshaled for this volume, with key figures in behavioural ecology, philosophy, and the history of science adding to its wide-ranging relevance. Updating the reader on the debate currently live in behavioural ecology itself on the centrality of sexual selection, and with coverage of developments in the field of animal aesthetics, the book details the current state of play, while other chapters trace the history of sexual selection from Darwin to today and inquire into the neurobiolo...
(R)Evolution studies the adaptation of industrial organisations to the dynamics of the environment by drawing an analogy with evolutionary biology, by extensively studying literature in management science, and by case studies. These investigations have lead to the insight that companies might evolve slower than generally expected; they doubt the effect of reorganizations, as commonly practiced in industry. Additionally, this work proposes the model for the Innovation Impact Point, the model for the Dynamic Adaptation Capability, the model for Collaboration.