AMS Congressional Lunch Briefing

"Mathematics is biology's next microscope, only better; biology is mathematics' next physics, only better " was the provocative title of the July 10, 2003 AMS Congressional Lunch Briefing on Capitol Hill, given by Joel E. Cohen (Laboratory of Populations, Rockefeller and Columbia Universities). Professor Cohen drew a capacity crowd for this, the seventh in the series of annual mathematics briefings for Members of Congress, and congressional staff members. This year's briefing was co-sponsored by Congressman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI). Jane M. Hawkins (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), incoming chair of the AMS Committee on Science Policy, welcomed guests on behalf of the AMS.

Professor Cohen's abstract of his talk: "In the late 17th century, microscopes caused a revolution in biology by revealing otherwise invisible worlds that were previously unsuspected. Mathematics (broadly interpreted) can reveal otherwise invisible worlds in all kinds of biological data, not only optical. In the past, physical problems stimulated enormous advances in mathematics, such as geometry and calculus. Biology can stimulate the creation of new realms of mathematics. We will survey the past, present and future of interactions between biology and mathematics. "