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"Design by numbers", by R. McNeill Alexander, Nature, 9 August 2001.
"Optimization theory is a branch of mathematics that was developed largely by economists, and which is used enthusiastically by some biologists and viewed with grave suspicion by others. It seeks the best possible solutions to problems: for example, the best investment strategy for a banker, the best breeding strategy for a bird and the best design for a girder or bone." The author, a biologist, asserts that optimization theory is used "not to prove evolution or learning works, but to check our understanding." The author cites some problems in which optimization is used: it helps explain human high and long jumping (using models to calculate the speed and angles of the athletes), and helps explain the swimming performance of squids. "In mathematical language, the squid has failed to reach the global optimum, but it may well be near to a local optimum.... The value to biology of properly applied optimization theory has been splendidly demonstrated by Geoffrey Parker and John Maynard Smith, but their message may have to be repeated many times before the doubters are convinced."
--- Annette Emerson
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