Abstract

The notions of ‘mathematical models’ and ‘mathematical modelling’ entered the discourse of mathematics in the early 20th century in connection with the migration of mathematics into other (new) scientific disciplines, biology being one of them. There have been a few studies related to the history of mathematical biology, but not many, and in this talk I will outline proposals (possible strategies and approaches) for how to dig into this huge topic within the history of applied mathematics in the 20th century. A number of perspectives and research questions from which to explore the history of mathematical biology and modeling will be suggested. To be concrete: we will take point of departure in Nicolas Rashevsky’s work on mathematical biology and his concept of mathematical “paper and pencil” modeling. With this starting point, we will unfold various lines of research and research questions into the history of mathematical biology and modeling in the 20th century related to various methodological levels, and discuss some of the challenges for these research projects.