Wednesday 21 August 2013

Calculations of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Mathematics is a beautiful and elegant way of expressing order. I have heard it called a universal language. If true, then there are many dialects. There are any number of ways to approach a problem, no one of them necessarily more legitimate than another. I have always found interesting the passion and fervor people attach to their particular approach to mathematics. "Why do you do the problem that way?" I might be asked. "Clearly," my critic continues, "if you solve the problem this way, it's much quicker, more logical, and easier to follow. This is the only way that makes any sense." Well, maybe to them. Not everyone's brain works in the same way. In solving a problem in concentration, for example, it is probably amenable to solution by using a relationship of ratios, or C1V1 = C2V2, or the approach most often taken in this book. In actuality, they are all variations on a theme. Any one of them will get you the answer. Therein, I believe, lies the very beauty of mathematics.

It wasn't until this last year that I discovered the approach that I take to most of the problems encountered in the molecular biology laboratory has a name. It is called dimensional analysis. I always thought of it as "canceling terms." My brain is comfortable with this method. Many have tried to convert me to the use of the C1V1 = C2V2 approach, but all have failed. I have been chided and ridiculed by some for the manner in which I solve problems. I have been applauded by others. When I learned that the approach I take has the name dimensional analysis, I felt, in a way, like the person who visits the doctor with some inexplicable malady and who is reassured when the doctor attaches some Latin-sounding name to it. At least then, the individual knows that other people must also have the affliction, that it has been studied, and that there may even be a cure.

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