Review by Choice Review
Mathematical biology has come of age. Real textbooks in this area are being published. Previous books have often been research monographs or calculus texts with a few examples from biology. This book is the first of its kind, forming a bridge from introductory math to more advanced treatments. Otto (zoology, Univ. of British Columbia) and Day (mathematics and biology, Queen's Univ.) aim their book toward upper-division biology students who have had introductory math and are interested in answering questions in biology. There is reasonable discussion about constructing models and the limitations of models. The mathematics is described as linear systems. Although nonlinear models are presented, their analysis is almost always by linear techniques. Although bifurcations are nonlinear, they are analyzed using linear approximation. Most of the biological examples are models of population dynamics, ranging from linear to nonlinear, from one-dimensional to multidimensional, and from deterministic to stochastic. Biological systems, human to microbial to genetic, are modeled. There is also a nice chapter on evolutionary invasion analysis. There is a reasonable selection of exercises, but only some solutions are given. An appendix summarizes much of the needed mathematics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. P. Cull Oregon State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
