Mathematical and theoretical biology

In 1938, a Russian émigré, Nicholas Rashevsky, published his major work, Mathematical Biophysics, at the University of Chicago.

His goal was to lay out a, quote, mathematical biology which could stand in the same relation to experimental biology as mathematical physics stands to experimental physics, end quote.

Rashevsky advocated for, quote, a certain autonomy of the mathematical natural sciences, which must develop in agreement with the results of experimental research, but should not be made mere handmaidens of the experimentalist.

A theoretical problem may have an interest of its own, and should not be tabooed only because at present it does not appear applicable to a definite experiment.

However, a lot of his other research endeavors were ultimately highly abstract and formal, and had little contact with experiment, which earned him mixed reactions or outright rejection from contemporary experimental physiologists.

But perhaps Rashevsky's longest-lasting contribution to theoretical biology was, in fact, administrative.

He founded the first journal of mathematical biology and the first PhD-granting program in mathematical biology at the University of Chicago.

Established in 1939, the Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics is still an active publication.