The Role of Mathematics in Evolutionary Theory

The Role of Mathematics in Evolutionary Theory PDF

Author: Jun Otsuka

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-10-17

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1108575196

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The central role of mathematical modeling in modern evolutionary theory has raised a concern as to why and how abstract formulae can say anything about empirical phenomena of evolution. This Element introduces existing philosophical approaches to this problem and proposes a new account according to which evolutionary models are based on causal, and not just mathematical, assumptions. The novel account features causal models both as the Humean 'uniform nature' underlying evolutionary induction and as the organizing framework that integrates mathematical and empirical assumptions into a cohesive network of beliefs that functions together to achieve epistemic goals of evolutionary biology.

Evolutionary Theory

Evolutionary Theory PDF

Author: Sean H. Rice

Publisher: Sinauer Associates Incorporated

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 9780878937028

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Evolutionary Theory is for graduate students, researchers, and advanced undergraduates who want an understanding of the mathematical and biological reasoning that underlies evolutionary theory. The book covers all of the major theoretical approaches used to study the mechanics of evolution, including classical one- and two-locus models, diffusion theory, coalescent theory, quantitative genetics, and game theory. There are also chapters on theoretical approaches to the evolution of development and on multilevel selection theory. Each subject is illustrated by focusing on those results that have the greatest power to influence the way that we think about how evolution works. These major results are developed in detail, with many accompanying illustrations, showing exactly how they are derived and how the mathematics relates to the biological insights that they yield. In this way, the reader learns something of the actual machinery of different branches of theory while gaining a deeper understanding of the evolutionary process. Roughly half of the book focuses on gene-based models, the other half being concerned with general phenotype-based theory. Throughout, emphasis is placed on the fundamental relationships between the different branches of theory, illustrating how all of these branches are united by a few basic, universal, principles. The only mathematical background assumed is basic calculus. More advanced mathematical methods are explained, with the help of an extensive appendix, when they are needed.

Mathematics and the Real World

Mathematics and the Real World PDF

Author: Zvi Artstein

Publisher: Prometheus Books

Published: 2014-09-02

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 1616145463

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In this accessible and illuminating study of how the science of mathematics developed, a veteran math researcher and educator looks at the ways in which our evolutionary makeup is both a help and a hindrance to the study of math. Artstein chronicles the discovery of important mathematical connections between mathematics and the real world from ancient times to the present. The author then describes some of the contemporary applications of mathematics—in probability theory, in the study of human behavior, and in combination with computers, which give mathematics unprecedented power. The author concludes with an insightful discussion of why mathematics, for most people, is so frustrating. He argues that the rigorous logical structure of math goes against the grain of our predisposed ways of thinking as shaped by evolution, presumably because the talent needed to cope with logical mathematics gave the human race as a whole no evolutionary advantage. With this in mind, he offers ways to overcome these innate impediments in the teaching of math.

Mathematical Models of Social Evolution

Mathematical Models of Social Evolution PDF

Author: Richard McElreath

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2008-09-15

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 0226558282

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Over the last several decades, mathematical models have become central to the study of social evolution, both in biology and the social sciences. But students in these disciplines often seriously lack the tools to understand them. A primer on behavioral modeling that includes both mathematics and evolutionary theory, Mathematical Models of Social Evolution aims to make the student and professional researcher in biology and the social sciences fully conversant in the language of the field. Teaching biological concepts from which models can be developed, Richard McElreath and Robert Boyd introduce readers to many of the typical mathematical tools that are used to analyze evolutionary models and end each chapter with a set of problems that draw upon these techniques. Mathematical Models of Social Evolution equips behaviorists and evolutionary biologists with the mathematical knowledge to truly understand the models on which their research depends. Ultimately, McElreath and Boyd’s goal is to impart the fundamental concepts that underlie modern biological understandings of the evolution of behavior so that readers will be able to more fully appreciate journal articles and scientific literature, and start building models of their own.

Mathematical Evolutionary Theory

Mathematical Evolutionary Theory PDF

Author: Marcus W. Feldman

Publisher:

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780691609171

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"The papers in this volume celebrate Samuel Karlin's contributions to mathematical evolutionary theory."--Page vii.

Mathematical Evolutionary Theory

Mathematical Evolutionary Theory PDF

Author: Marcus Feldman

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1400859832

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An international group of distinguished scientists presents an up-to-date survey of quantitative problems at the forefront of modern evolutionary theory. Their articles illustrate results from the latest research in population and behavioral genetics, molecular evolution, and ecology. Each author gives careful attention to the exposition of the models, the logic of their analysis, and the legitimacy of qualitative biological inferences. The topics covered include stochastic models of finite populations and the sorts of diffusion approximations that are valid for their study, models of migration, kin selection, geneculture coevolution, sexual selection, life-history evolution, the statistics of linkage disequilibrium, and the molecular evolution of repeated DNA sequences and the HLA system in humans. The fourteen contributions are presented in two sections: Part I, Stochastic and Deterministic Genetic Theory, and Part II, Behavior, Ecology, and Evolutionary Genetics. Marcus W. Feldman provides an introduction to each part. The contributors are J. G. Bodmer, W. F. Bodmer, L. L. Cavalli Sforza, F. B. Christiansen, C. Cockerham, W. J. Ewens, M. W. Feldman, J. H. Gillespie, R. R. Hudson, N. L. Kaplan, S. Lessard, U. Liberman, M.E.N. Majerus, P. O'Donald, J. Roughgarden, S. Tavar, M. K. Uyenoyama, G. A. Watterson, and B. Weir. Originally published in 1989. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution

A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution PDF

Author: Sarah P. Otto

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-09-19

Total Pages: 745

ISBN-13: 1400840910

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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

Mathematics of Evolution and Phylogeny

Mathematics of Evolution and Phylogeny PDF

Author: Olivier Gascuel

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2005-02-24

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 9780191513732

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This book considers evolution at different scales: sequences, genes, gene families, organelles, genomes and species. The focus is on the mathematical and computational tools and concepts, which form an essential basis of evolutionary studies, indicate their limitations, and give them orientation. Recent years have witnessed rapid progress in the mathematics of evolution and phylogeny, with models and methods becoming more realistic, powerful, and complex. Aimed at graduates and researchers in phylogenetics, mathematicians, computer scientists and biologists, and including chapters by leading scientists: A. Bergeron, D. Bertrand, D. Bryant, R. Desper, O. Elemento, N. El-Mabrouk, N. Galtier, O. Gascuel, M. Hendy, S. Holmes, K. Huber, A. Meade, J. Mixtacki, B. Moret, E. Mossel, V. Moulton, M. Pagel, M.-A. Poursat, D. Sankoff, M. Steel, J. Stoye, J. Tang, L.-S. Wang, T. Warnow, Z. Yang, this book of contributed chapters explains the basis and covers the recent results in this highly topical area.

Mathematical and Statistical Developments of Evolutionary Theory

Mathematical and Statistical Developments of Evolutionary Theory PDF

Author: S. Lessard

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 9400905130

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Mathematical and statistical approaches to evolutionary theory are numerous. The NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) held at the Universite de Montreal, Montreal, August 3-21, 1987, was an opportunity to review most of the classical approaches and to study the more recent developments. The participation of theoretical biologists and geneticists as well as applied mathematicians and statisticians made possible exchanges of ideas between students and scholars having different views on the subject. These Proceedings contain the lecture notes of seven (7) of the eleven (11) series of lectures that were given. ESS (Evolutionarily Stable Stragety) theory is considered from many perspectives, from a game-theoretic approach to understanding behavior and evolution (W.G.S. Hines), and a systematic classification of properties and patterns of ESS's (C. Cannings) to particular applications of the differential geometry of the Shahshahani metric (E. Akin). Extensions of ESS theory to sexual populations and finite populations, not to mention games between relatives, are presented (W.G.S. Hines). Special attention is given to the classical game called the War of Attrition but with n players and random rewards (C. Cannings). The Shahshahani metric is also used to show the occurrence of cycling in the two-locus, two-allele model (E. Akin). Various inference problems in population genetics are adressed. Procedures to detect and measure selection components and polymorphism (in particular, the Wahlund effect) at one or several loci from mother-offspring combinations in natural populations are discussed at length (F.B. Christiansen).