Nicholas Rashevsky
| Nicolas Rashevsky | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 9, 1899 Chernigov, Russian Empire |
| Died | January 16, 1972 (aged 72) Holland-Michigan, United States |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | Russian American |
| Fields | Theoretical physics, Mathematical biology |
| Institutions | University of Chicago, University of Michigan |
| Alma mater | Kiev University, University of Chicago |
| Notable students | George Karreman, Robert Rosen, Clyde Coombs, Anatol Rapoport, Herbert A. Simon |
Nicolas Rashevsky (November 9, 1899 – January 16, 1972) was an American theoretical physicist who pioneered mathematical biology, and is also considered the father of mathematical biophysics and theoretical biology.
He studied theoretical physics at the University of Kiev in Ukraine (then Russian Empire) before 1917, and immigrated first to Turkey, then to Poland, France, and finally to the US in 1924 because of the October revolution.
In USA he worked at first for the Westinghouse Research Labs in Pittsburgh where he focused on the theoretical physics modeling of the cell division and the mathematics of cell fission, a subject that was anecdotally said to have attracted fission-related defense interests.
He was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1934 and went to the University of Chicago to take up the appointment of assistant professor in the Department of Physiology. In 1938 he made his first major contribution by publishing the first book on Mathematical Biophysics, and then in 1939 he also founded the first mathematical biology international journal entitled The Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics (BMB); these two essential contributions founded the field of mathematical biology, with the BMB journal serving as the focus of contributing mathematical biologists over the last 70 years.
In 1938 he published the first book on mathematical biology and mathematical biophysics entitled: "Mathematical Biophysics: Physico-Mathematical Foundations of Biology." This fundamental book was eventually published in three revised editions, the last revision appearing in two volumes in 1960. It was followed in 1940 by "Advances and applications of mathematical biology.", and in 1947 by "Mathematical theory of human relations", an approach to a mathematical model of society. In the same year he established the World' s first PhD program in Mathematical Biology at the University of Chicago.
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