The Big Ideas of Biology
Bill Ardis
Department of Mathematics
Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.
Theodosius Dobzhansky, 1973
One of the exciting new areas in mathematics is its application to the field of
biology. In the past, biology has been the least quantitative of the sciences, but that is
rapidly changing. While statistics has always been an integral part of biological research,
other branches of mathematics such as differential equations, knot theory, and dynamical
systems are now an important part of research in certain areas of biology. This
connection between biology and mathematics has been the topic of a recent National
Research Council of the National Academies of Science report, BIO2010: Transforming
Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists, and the conference Meeting
the Challenges in Emerging Areas: Education Across the Biological, Mathematical, and
Computer Sciences. One of the recommendations from BIO2010 is an interdisciplinary
approach to biology and mathematics. As the report stated, “Connections between
biology and other scientific disciplines need to be developed and reinforced so the
interdisciplinary thinking and work become second nature.” In order for me to continue
to develop an interdisciplinary approach, it is vital that I get a good foundation in the key
ideas in biology.
Several years ago I attended a talk on the mathematics and the Human Genome
project at the Joint Mathematics Meeting. While I had no problems with the
mathematics/statistics that were used, my knowledge of biology was very weak. I had not
had a biology class since I was a sophomore in high school, almost thirty years ago at the
time. One of the fruits of this talk was the development of the Learning Community
“Chances In Life: A Quantitative Approach to Biology” that I have taught with Professor
Sukanya Subramanian for the past three years. This Learning Community combined
MATH 1342 – Statistics with BIOL 1406 – General Biology I. This Spring I am offering
a new Learning Community combing the statistics class with the biology class, BIOL
2421 – Microbiology. I am teaching the Learning Community “Risk of Disease:
Microbiology by the Numbers” with Professor Carrie Bottoms. As I continue to teach
these Learning Communities, as well as other mathematics classes, I realize I need to
expand my knowledge of science, especially biology.
The purpose of this study grant is to gain a solid understanding of the key idea that
drives biology, evolution, and two of the important components that explain how
evolution works: genetics and DNA. This study grant will take a three-tiered approach to
each topic. First, I will read works of a historical and/or background nature. This will
help me understand how these important ideas developed, and the context in which the
developed. Second, I will read the original books or articles that introduce each idea to
the scientific world. This will allow me to understand the key idea in the original authors’
own words. Finally, I will read some current works by experts in the field concerning
these ideas. This will allow me to place these ideas in context of biology today. To round
out the study, and to tie in my field, which is mathematics, I will read a work that
explores evolutionary ideas mathematically. This will allow me to understand the
quantitative or computational applications to current biology. Also included in the study
grant are several textbooks to be used for reference on the topics of evolution, genetics,
and DNA. The reference works will be used on an as needed basis as I read through the
books and papers in my study grant.
This study grant will give me a greater understanding of evolution, genetics, and
DNA, and the key roles they play in biology. This will be useful in the learning
communities that I teach, as well in the stand alone mathematics classes that I teach. Not
only will I be able to discuss applications of mathematics to physics or chemistry, but
now I can explain how mathematics is used in the study of evolution.
If approved, I will do the reading for the study grant during Summer II, 2010. I will
focus on evolution during the first two weeks of the study grant. During the third week I
will read the material on DNA and for the fourth week I will read the works on
DNA. Finally, in the fifth week I will focus on evolutionary mathematics. I would then
present the findings of this study grant to interested faculty during the next academic
year.
The following is the outline of proposed readings for the study grant.
1. Evolution (Weeks 1 – 2):
a. Background/Historical
Bowler, Peter J., Evolution: The History of an Idea, University of California Press,
Berkeley, CA, 2003
Quammen, David, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin
and the Making of His Theory of Evolution, W. W. Norton, New York, N. Y., 2003
b. Major Work
Darwin, Charles, On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition, Sterling, New York,
N.Y., 2008
c. Follow-up
Dawkins, Richard, The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution, Mariner
Books, Boston, MA, 2004
Mayr, Ernst, What Evolution Is, Basic Books, New York, N.Y., 2001
2. Genetics (Week 3):
a. Background/Historical
Henig, Robin Marantz, The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor
Mendel, the Father of Genetics, Houghton Miflin, Boston, MA, 2000
b. Major Work
Mendel, Gregor, “Experiments in Plant Hybridization, ” 1865
c. Follow-up
Dawkins, Richard, The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press, New York, N.Y., 1976
Prothero, Donald R., Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters, Columbia
University Press, New York, N.Y., 2007
3. DNA (Week 4):
a. Background/Historical
Watson, James D., The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the
Structure of DNA, New American Library, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1968
b. Major Work
Watson, J. D., and F. H. C. Crick, “Á Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” Nature
171 (1953): 737-38
c. Follow-up
Watson, James D. with Andrew Berry, DNA: The Secret of Life, Columbia University
Press, New York, N.Y., 2007
Fairbanks, Daniel J., Relics of Eden: The Powerful Evidence of Evolution in Human
DNA, Prometheus Books, Amherst, N.Y., 2007
4. Evolutionary Mathematics (Week 5):
Nowak, Martin A., Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equations of Life, The
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006
5. Reference
Campbell, Neil A., and Jane B. Reece, Biology 7th ed., Pearson, San Francisco, CA, 2005
Freeman, Scott, and Jon C. Herron, Evolutionary Analysis 4th ed., Pearson, Upper Saddle
River, N.J., 2007
Hartwell, Leland H., et al, Genetics: From Genes to Genomes 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, New
York, N.Y., 2008
Bibliography
Bowler, Peter J., Evolution: The History of an Idea, University of California Press,
Berkeley, CA, 2003
Campbell, Neil A., and Jane B. Reece, Biology 7th ed., Pearson, San Francisco, CA, 2005
Darwin, Charles, On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition, Sterling, New York,
N.Y., 2008
Dawkins, Richard, The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press, New York, N.Y., 1976
Dawkins, Richard, The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution, Mariner
Books, Boston, MA, 2004
Fairbanks, Daniel J., Relics of Eden: The Powerful Evidence of Evolution in Human
DNA, Prometheus Books, Amherst, N.Y., 2007
Freeman, Scott, and Jon C. Herron, Evolutionary Analysis 4th ed., Pearson, Upper Saddle
River, N.J., 2007
Hartwell, Leland H., et al, Genetics: From Genes to Genomes 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, New
York, N.Y., 2008
Henig, Robin Marantz, The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor
Mendel, the Father of Genetics, Houghton Miflin, Boston, MA, 2000
Mayr, Ernst, What Evolution Is, Basic Books, New York, N.Y., 2001
Mendel, Gregor, “Experiments in Plant Hybridization, ” 1865
Nowak, Martin A., Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equations of Life, The
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006
Prothero, Donald R., Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters, Columbia
University Press, New York, N.Y., 2007
Quammen, David, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin
and the Making of His Theory of Evolution, W. W. Norton, New York, N. Y.,
2003
Watson, J. D., and F. H. C. Crick, “Á Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” Nature
171 (1953): 737-38
Watson, James D., The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the
Structure of DNA, New American Library, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1968
Watson, James D. with Andrew Berry, DNA: The Secret of Life, Columbia University
Press, New York, N.Y., 2007