Lecture to address biology-chemistry relationship

Institute of Fundamental Sciences lecturer Associate Professor Bill Williams will explore the world of biological physics at a public lecture on Thursday.

Dr Williams will give the lecture entitled Biological Physics: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? in the Aston 1 lecture theatre on the Manawatu campus.

The lecture will examine the current relationship between physics and biology, discuss the origin of tensions between the disciplines, and describe a number of studies that exemplify some of the diverse areas in which biological physics is revealing the amazing rhapsody of the natural world.

“It might be argued biophysics dates back to the time of Volta and Galvani, and perhaps emerged more formally as a discipline in the 19th century at the British and Berlin Physiology Schools,” Dr Williams says.

“Yet, despite a successful history that includes the decline of vitalism and the growth in popularity of the view that biological systems are not beyond the remit of physical law, those venturing into this field have still, on occasion, been regarded as a tad Bohemian.”

Lecture details:
Thursday, September 20, 1pm.
Venue: Aston 1.