Speaker: 

Matthew Bloss 

TITLE:

DATE:

October 29, 2004

TIME:

4:00 p.m.

PLACE:

Hibbard Humanities Hall, Room 315

Abstract:

Why do leopards have spots?  Why do zebras have stripes?  In 1951 the mathematical genius Alan Turing proposed a way of understanding natural patterns by means of an activator-inhibitor model.  Turing’s ideas were under-appreciated until modern computers showed the brilliance and power of this type of modeling.  In this talk I will give a gentle introduction to Turing’s reaction-diffusion model of how patterns form.  I will focus on biological patterns that arise on the skins and furs of many mammals, fish, and on the surfaces of tropical shells.  The talk will be accessible to non-mathematicians, including biologists and biology students, although a little knowledge of calculus will be helpful.