• Chapter 1
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 13

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Primer 1
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Primer 2
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Primer 3
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Appendices

The following labs illustrate the mathematical techniques used in A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling. To download these files, use the control-mouse click to save the file to the directory you want and then open the files in Mathematica® (download a free Mathematica® reader). When you first start to use Mathematica®, take the tutorial (go to the Help menu and click Tutorial). This tutorial provides a basic overview of the power and utility of Mathematica®.

Summary of the most commonly encountered commands in Mathematica®:

• A Short Guide to Mathematica Functions

• Getting up-and-running with Mathematica®

A series of 1-2 hour labs aimed at either an undergraduate or graduate audience:

• Lab 1: Getting started with Mathematica®
• Lab 2: Writing and plotting functions
• Lab 3: Writing simulations
• Lab 4: Simulating chaos with the logistic model
• Lab 5: Finding equilibria and assessing stability
• Lab 6: Solving differential equations
• Lab 7: Manipulating matrices
• Lab 8: Finding general solutions for linear models
• Lab 9: Numerically and analytically solving continuous-time models
• Lab 10: Tracking predator-prey dynamics
• Lab 11: Adding demographic stochasticity to the logistic model
• Lab 12: The fixation probability of an allele

• Exploring chaos in a two-species model
• An evolutionary invasion analysis (Chapter 12) of gamete size. When does evolution lead to divergence between egg and sperm size?

Maxima is a free software program capable of doing many of the algebraic manipulations performed in the book (download here). The following introduces you to Maxima:

• Getting up-and-running with Maxima

If you have any suggestions for additional labs or changes to these labs, please email Sarah Otto (otto@zoology.ubc.ca) or Troy Day (tday@mast.queensu.ca)

• Sarah Otto
• Troy Day

About the Cover Art

• Colin Bates

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