Comments on the unreasonable effectiveness of the biological and especially medical sciences

About 50 years ago it was pointed out by Dr. Eugene Wigner that application s of mathematics to a wide range of physical problems were inexplicably eff ective in both their immediate practical results and predictive power. The reasons for this remain elusive. In a loosely analogous sense, parallels ca n be drawn between such an effectiveness and the evolving power of the biol ogical sciences, leading to the accomplishment of many practical and theore tical goals. We consider some of the similarities and differences that dist inguish these two modalities with which certain features of physical realit y are apprehanded, analyzed and manipulated. (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers L td.