Mathematics, structuralism and biology

A new approach is gaining ground in biology, one that has much in common with the structuralist tradition in other fields. It is very much in the spirit of an earlier view of biology and indeed of science in general. It is also, though this is not generally recognized, in the spirit of twentieth century physics. As in modern physics, however, it is not a question of ignoring all the progress that has been made within the former paradigm. On the contrary, the aim is to use it as a basis for setting out in a somewhat different direction. Complex phenomena do not generally lend themselves to reductionist analyses which seek explanation only in terms of detailed mechanisms, but a proper scientific discussion of structure must make full use of what we have already learned - by whatever means - about the processes that underly the phenomena we are trying to understand.