The mathematization of biology and medicine: who, when, how? [Retrospectroscope]

One objective of bioengineering is the quantification of the biological and medical sciences, with the goal of improving their exactness and preciseness, always in an attempt to remove as many indeterminations and uncertainties as possible, especially when seeking predictions. The extract at the beginning of the column, which is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, seems to reflect a very early Renaissance concept in such a direction; this concept is indeed more general because it encompasses all the sciences [1]. The famous Vitruvian Man, so many times reproduced on book covers and posters, appears perhaps as an anticipatory geometrical epitome of that modern recent aim (Figure 1). However, 200 years before da Vinci was Ramon Llull (ca. 1232-1315), a Majorcan philosopher, member of the Third Order of Saint Francis, and author of important works of Catalan literature. Lull is considered by some to be a pioneer of computation theory because of his contributions to logics. Should he also be considered a very early predecessor of biomathematics? We leave this question dangling for the historian and/or the philosopher of history. In Spain, there is a journal carrying his name, Llull (see [12]).