Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics
Duke University
http://www.cs.duke.edu/~edels/

Biology and Topology

The terminology we find in the two fields, such as `homology', `complexes', `networks', `functions', betray a deep connection. Perhaps the reason are common or similar objects under study, but we believe the connection runs deeper. While the reductionist approach generated breath-taking insights in biology during last century, it is becoming clear that things are intertwined and related in a major way and along many axes, space, time, and scale including. Topology is at its best when it comes to global properties arising from integrating local phenomena into a whole. This is needed in biology today, methods that allow us to reason about the system based on how its parts behave and are put together.

Friday, October 20, 2006
Biotechnology Auditorium - 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.