Mathematics, Biology, and Physics: Interactions and Interdependence

EXICO Centuries, scientific disciplines started to be hierarchically classified. This classification works well in some instances, and without it dealing with the rapidly growing body of knowledge of the past 200 years would have been difficult. However, it fails to fairly represent the interdisciplinary work which has been, and continues to be, highly important. In this paper we give a taste of the rich historical relation between physics, mathematics, and the biological sciences. We argue that this will continue to play a very important role in the future, based on historical examples and on a brief review of the current situation.