Mathematics Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==== Biology and chemistry ==== {{Main|Mathematical and theoretical biology|Mathematical chemistry}} [[File:Giant Pufferfish skin pattern detail.jpg|thumb|The skin of this [[giant pufferfish]] exhibits a [[Turing pattern]], which can be modeled by [[reaction–diffusion system]]s.]] [[Biology]] uses probability extensively – for example, in ecology or [[neurobiology]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Millstein |first=Roberta |author-link=Roberta Millstein |title=The Oxford Handbook of Probability and Philosophy |date=September 8, 2016 |editor-last=Hájek |editor-first=Alan |pages=601–622 |chapter=Probability in Biology: The Case of Fitness |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199607617.013.27 |editor-last2=Hitchcock |editor-first2=Christopher |chapter-url=http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/10901/1/Millstein-fitness-v2.pdf |access-date=December 29, 2022 |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307054456/http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/10901/1/Millstein-fitness-v2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Most of the discussion of probability in biology, however, centers on the concept of [[evolutionary fitness]].<ref name=":2" /> Ecology heavily uses modeling to simulate [[population dynamics]],<ref name=":2" /><ref>See for example Anne Laurent, Roland Gamet, Jérôme Pantel, ''Tendances nouvelles en modélisation pour l'environnement, actes du congrès «Programme environnement, vie et sociétés»'' 15-17 janvier 1996, CNRS</ref> study ecosystems such as the predator-prey model, measure pollution diffusion,{{Sfn|Bouleau|1999|pp=282–283}} or to assess climate change.{{Sfn|Bouleau|1999|p=285}} The dynamics of a population can be modeled by coupled differential equations, such as the [[Lotka–Volterra equations]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 5, 2022 |title=1.4: The Lotka-Volterra Predator-Prey Model |url=https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Applied_Mathematics/Mathematical_Biology_(Chasnov)/01%3A_Population_Dynamics/1.04%3A_The_Lotka-Volterra_Predator-Prey_Model |access-date=December 29, 2022 |website=Mathematics LibreTexts |language=en |archive-date=December 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229204111/https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Applied_Mathematics/Mathematical_Biology_(Chasnov)/01:_Population_Dynamics/1.04:_The_Lotka-Volterra_Predator-Prey_Model |url-status=live }}</ref> However, there is the problem of [[model validation]]. This is particularly acute when the results of modeling influence political decisions; the existence of contradictory models could allow nations to choose the most favorable model.{{Sfn|Bouleau|1999|p=287}} Genotype evolution can be modeled with the [[Hardy-Weinberg principle]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} [[Phylogeography]] uses probabilistic models.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} Medicine uses [[statistical hypothesis testing]], run on data from [[clinical trial]]s, to determine whether a new treatment works.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} Since the start of the 20th century, chemistry has used computing to model molecules in three dimensions. It turns out that the form of [[macromolecules]] in biology is variable and determines the action. Such modeling uses Euclidean geometry; neighboring atoms form a [[polyhedron]] whose distances and angles are fixed by the laws of interaction.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page