tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post4682715865001022957..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Theoreticians as Professional OutsidersSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1502298445200209742014-06-30T20:53:07.120-04:002014-06-30T20:53:07.120-04:00I am reading Norbert Wiener's cybernetics book...I am reading Norbert Wiener's cybernetics book right now. Incredible coincidence. Guess it goes to show that people who have similar interests in some fields probably have underlying similarities in brain architecture / personality that make them pursue similar interests in other unrelated fields. <br />I would also add Stuart Kaufman for theoretical biology. Haven't read him in detail redddinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-52683491359858418782014-06-27T02:47:02.162-04:002014-06-27T02:47:02.162-04:00Yeah, I remember Velikovsky standing alone against...Yeah, I remember Velikovsky standing alone against the officious and arrogant astronomers. Good times.5371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-33126548016650216852014-06-27T02:44:50.109-04:002014-06-27T02:44:50.109-04:00Von Neumann compared the construction instructions...Von Neumann compared the construction instructions that direct the automaton to genes, noting that genes probably do not constitute instructions fully specifying the construction of the objects their presence stimulates. He warned that genes are probably only general pointers or cues that affect development, a warning that alas did not curtail the “genetic program” metaphor that became dominant 5371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-72389515981315271092014-06-26T19:27:07.592-04:002014-06-26T19:27:07.592-04:00There is another recent example of the use of math...There is another recent example of the use of mathematics by an 'outsider' that springs to mind. Steven McIntyre was not a climatologist but he had a solid statistical background from mining research - of all things. For a while there he almost stood alone against the officious and arrogant climatologists. But climatology never attracted guys who were very good at math. In fact many of Pat Boylenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-83488903039532276152014-06-26T17:48:03.121-04:002014-06-26T17:48:03.121-04:00Not biology, but a good example of a mathematician...Not biology, but a good example of a mathematician creating a revolution in different fields is Ed Thorpe, who invented counting cards in blackjack, true (market-neutral) hedge funds and the options-pricing formula later published by Black and Scholes, which Thorp very profitably kept to himself. His work has strong connections to information theory, particularly his work on Kelly Criterion and MUltannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-16471909924861266902014-06-26T15:34:55.297-04:002014-06-26T15:34:55.297-04:00Rashevsky's "Mathematical Biophysics"...Rashevsky's "Mathematical Biophysics" was extremely illuminating back when I was studying and doing biokinetics. But you should have included A. J. Lotka (a statistician and actuarian) and Volterra (a mathematician) in the list of contributors to biology.<br /><br /><br />That said, very few modern biologists have actually read these guys (well, Volterra writes in French), and BobSykesnoreply@blogger.com