Earlier this month Professor Jim Murray, Professor Emeritus Mathematical Biology, University of
Oxford & Senior Scholar, Applied and
Computational Mathematics, Princeton University, gave the first Hooke Lecture here in Oxford. Entitled “Why
there are no 3-headed monsters, resolving some problems with brain
tumours, divorce prediction and how to save marriages” Jim described three very different problems: the development of the mechanical
theory of morphogenesis and how it was used to move evolution backwards; a
model for quantifying the growth of brain tumours and individual patient
treatments: and an example from the social sciences that is used to predict
marital stability and divorce. The Hooke lectures are part of a series of Public Lectures
intended to display the power and beauty of mathematics to a wider audience.
