Mathematics and the Life Sciences

For two weeks in August, 1975 more than 140 mathematicians and other scientists gathered at the Universite de Sherbrooke. The occasion was the 15th Biennial Seminar of the Canadian Mathematical Congress, entitled Mathematics and the Life Sciences. Participants in this inter- disciplinary gathering included researchers and graduate students in mathematics, seven different areas of biological science, physics, chemistry and medical science. Geographically, those present came from the United States and the United Kingdom as well as from academic departments and government agencies scattered across Canada. In choosing this particular interdisciplinary topic the programme committee had two chief objectives. These were to promote Canadian research in mathematical problems of the life sciences, and to encourage co-operation and exchanges between mathematical scientists"e; biologists and medical re- searchers. To accomplish these objective the committee assembled a stim- ulating programme of lectures and talks. Six principal lecturers each delivered a series of five one-hour lectures in which various aspects of the interaction between mathematics and the life sciences were considered. In addition researchers working in the areas of health, population biology, physiology and development biology and disease processes were invited to give more than 25 hours of complementary talks.