Chance and Necessity

Chance and necessity in chromosomal gene distributions.

By analyzing the spacing of genes on chromosomes, we find that transcriptional and RNA-processing regulatory sequences outside coding regions leave footprints on the distribution of intergenic distances. Using analogies between genes on chromosomes and one-dimensional gases, we constructed a statistical null model. We used this to estimate typical upstream and downstream regulatory sequence siz...

Insect–plant Relationship – Chance and Necessity

From the early 1920s, Europe was furiously struggling with the invasion of the Colorado potato beetle and then soon took cognisance of its inevitable triumph with resignation. All over Europe, laboratories were established and talented entomologists attempted to discover the “Achilles-heel” of the new pest devastating potato fields and threatening the potato industry. In 1947, the first scouts ...

Chance and Necessity in Eye Evolution

Charles Darwin has proposed the theory that evolution of live organisms is based on random variation and natural selection. Jacques Monod in his classic book Chance and Necessity, published 40 years ago, presented his thesis "that the biosphere does not contain a predictable class of objects or events, but constitutes a particular occurrence, compatible indeed with the first principles, but not...

Chance and Necessity: the Languages of Probability and Mathematics

The idea of viewing mathematics as a language of communication has been espoused for many years. In England, this was the starting point for the influential report on the teaching of mathematics by Cockcroft. A much earlier reference is that of Tobias Dantzig in his seminal book, Number–The Language of Science; this would now perhaps be called, Mathematics–The Language of Scientific and Social ...

Mammals, Florence and Chemistry: Chance and Necessity in Organizational Change