Epistemology of the Cell ─ A Systems Perspective on Biological Knowledge

Authors Dougherty (Genomic Signal Processing Laboratory, Texas A&M University) and Bittner (Computational Biology Division, the Transnational Genomics Research Institute) contend that since the cell is the basic unit of life, its epistemology must drive biological epistemology in general, up to and including the organism level. Their treatise draws on the work of philosophers from Aristotle and Galileo to Albert Einstein, S.A. Kauffman, J.C. Maxwell, C.H. Waddington, and Norbert Weiner, who in the 1930s formulated the basis of systems theory. After an overview of the nature and development of scientific knowledge, the book concentrates on the cell, with chapters on cells as factories, translational science, stochastic validation, and model-based experimentation in biology. The book incorporates some work that has appeared in previous journal publications. It will be of interest to biomedical researchers in areas such as bioinformatics, biological modeling, biostatistics, and biological signal processing. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

EDWARD R. DOUGHERTY, PhD, is Director of the Genomic Signal Processing Laboratory at Texas A&M University, where he holds the Robert M. Kennedy '26 Chair and is Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is also co-Director of the Computational Biology Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute as well as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. Dr. Dougherty has published more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

MICHAEL L. BITTNER, PhD, is co-Director and Senior Investigator at the Computational Biology Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute. Previously, he was associate investigator in the Cancer Genetics Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bittner holds a dozen patents and has published more than 100 articles.

1. Science and Knowledge.

2. Causality and the Three Pillars of Aristotelian Science.

3. Scientific Knowledge.

4. Cells and Factories.

5. Translational Science.

6. Stochastic Validation: Classification.

7. Stochastic Validation: Networks.

8. Sola Fides.

9. Model-Based Experimentation in Biology.