Applications of Calculus to Biology and Medicine ─ Case Studies from Lake Victoria

This text illustrates the application of calculus to biology and medicine using the example of mathematically modeling challenges in the Lake Victoria region. It uses real data to show how to model algal, water hyacinth, and fish growth; predator-prey interactions among fish, insects, and plants; lead in the bloodstream and the chelation process; and how diseases like HIV/AIDS spread through a region. It provides background on the Lake Victoria region and some review of calculus (understanding of ideas of differential calculus is assumed), then describes four areas of biology in which biologists and mathematicians have solved problems using the techniques of calculus (population modeling, drug modeling, predator-prey modeling, and infectious disease modeling), addressing the biology and math required to understand the kinds of problems posed in biology and medicine, computational techniques used to solve problems, projects for conducting research, and thinking like a mathematical modeler. Annotation ©2017 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)