A short history of mathematical population dynamics / Nicolas Bacaër.

Author
Bacaër, Nicolas [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
  • London ; New York : Springer, [2011]
  • ©2011
Description
x, 160 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Lewis Library - Stacks HB849.51 .B33 2011 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Summary note
    This book traces the history of population dynamics--a theoretical subject closely connected to genetics, ecology, epidemiology and demography--where mathematics has brought significant insights. It presents an overview of the genesis of several important themes: exponential growth, from Euler and Malthus to the Chinese one-child policy; the development of stochastic models, from Mendel's laws and the question of extinction of family names to percolation theory for the spread of epidemics, and chaotic populations, where determinism and randomness intertwine. From a different perspective, it also shows the problems that scientists face when governments ask for reliable predictions to help control epidemics (AIDS, SARS, swine flu), manage renewable resources (fishing quotas, spread of genetically modified organisms) or anticipate demographic evolutions such as aging. -- from Back Cover.
    Notes
    "This book is essentially a translation of the French edition published by Cassini Éditeurs (Paris) in 2008 under the title Histoires de mathématiques et de populations. Some chapters have been reorganized or rewritten"--P. viii.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    Contents
    • 1. The Fibonacci sequence (1202)
    • 2. Halley's life table (1693)
    • 3. Euler and the geometric growth of populations (1748-1761)
    • 4. Daniel Bernoulli, d'Alembert and the inoculation of smallpox (1760)
    • 5. Malthus and the obstacles to geometric growth (1798)
    • 6. Verhulst and the logistic equation (1838)
    • 7. Bienaymé, Cournot and the extinction of family names (1845-1847)
    • 8. Mendel and heredity (1865)
    • 9. Galton, Watson and the extinction problem (1873-1875)
    • 10. Lotka and stable population theory (1907-1911)
    • 11. The Hardy-Weinberg law (1908)
    • 12. Ross and malaria (1911)
    • 13. Lotka, Volterra and the predator-prey system (1920-1926)
    • 14. Fisher and natural selection (1922)
    • 15. Yule and evolution (1924)
    • 16. McKendrick and Kermack on epidemic modelling (1926-1927)
    • 17. Haldane and mutations (1927)
    • 18. Erlang and Steffensen on the extinction problem (1929-1933)
    • 19. Wright and random genetic drift (1931)
    • 20. The diffusion of genes (1937)
    • 21. The Leslie matrix (1945)
    • 22. Percolation and epidemics (1957)
    • 23. Game theory and evolution (1973)
    • 24. Chaotic populations (1974)
    • 25. China's one-child policy (1980)
    • 26. Some contemporary problems.
    ISBN
    • 0857291149 ((pbk.))
    • 9780857291141 ((pbk.))
    LCCN
    2011377450
    OCLC
    668190697
    Other standard number
    • 99942852005
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