Origin And Formation Of Biomathematics

Biomathematics as an interdisciplinary science, has a rich theoretical foundation of mathematics. In the past, the community of history of mathematics has insufficient attention to the historical development of this emerging discipline, and has few relevant research results.This dissertation gives a systematically study of the process of the origin and formation of biomathematics on the basis of collecting, sorting with the related historical materials both at home and abroad:Firstly, reorganizing the knowledge system of biomathematics→and then graspping the key points of each stage of the origin and formation of biomathematics→selecting a representative class of biomathematical model(population dynamic mathematical model), and regard the emergence and development of this model as a breakthrough→next, reconstructing the key points of the cause of the emergence of each stage by speculation→finally, verifying the conjecture by the relevant original literature.Under the guidance of the above method, following main contributions are obtained:1. We investigate the historical trajectory of the origin and formation of biomathematics by selecting the emergence and development of the population dynamic mathematical model as a breakthrough, which is a class of model with the most extensive, thorough applications, and the most developed, mature system in biomathematics. Fifteen experienced forms of this class of biomathematical model are introduced:Shen Kuo population dynamic mathematical model, dynamic mathematical model of Fibonacci rabbit growth, dynamic mathematical model of Xu Guangqi population growth, Graunt life table model, Euler geometric growth of population dynamic model, dynamic mathematical model of epidemics, Malthus model, Logistic model, Lotka-Volterra model, extended Lotka-Volterra model, diffusion dynamic mathematical model of single population, diffusion dynamic mathematical model of multiply population, dynamic mathematical model of composite population, Holling population dynamic mathematical model, chaos population dynamic mathematical model. We also point out that the important value and the practical significance can not be ignored in the origin and formation of biomathematics.2. Then we analyze the origin and formation of the four biggest branches of biomathematics(biostatistics, quantitative genetics, mathematical ecology, bioinformatics) comprehensively, and point out the characteristics of the four branches.3. Next, we mainly discuss the great contributions of four key persons(Gregor Johann Mendel, Vito Volterra, Francis Galton, Ronald Aylmer Fisher) toward biomathematics by means of methods of literature review, historical analysis and comparative research-although some of the works they have done have been neglected, but as the time goes by, the significant impacts of their works to the origin and formation of biomathematics arised deeper understandings.4. Then we analyze the socialization process of biomathematics which mainly comes from the foundation of the specialized journals on biomathematics, the establishment of the biomathematical monographs, the establishment of the biomathematical communities, and the awards on biomathematics in detail.5. This dissertation investigates some recent trends of biomathematics and gives an outlook including three directions of the future studies in biomathematics:biomathematics be widely permeated and applicated to medical, multiply species composite population models will tend to be matured, and more suited new methods to biology will be created.6. Finally, we give an introduction on the development of biomathematics taking place in China. The aim is to develop the entrepreneurial spirit of the older generation of Chinese biomathematicians, and struggle for speeding up the development of biomathematics in China.