The Late Australian Scientist Robert May Was A Polymath
July 8, 2020 at 8:19 p.m.
By Max [email protected]
Many provided revolutionary mathematical insights into a number of scientific unrelated fields of study. They included such stalwarts as Leonhard Euler, John Von Neumann, Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibnetz and Paul Erdos. This past week we lost another – Robert May, an Australian born scientist passed away at age 84.
He applied mathematical contributions in fields as diverse as ecology, epidemiology and finance. I understand that one way to turn off readers is to discuss mathematics in any way, shape or form. However, it is not possible to avoid the subject when discussing science. Many polymaths excel in math, in fact, it may be a prerequisite.
As one author wrote: “The laws of nature are written in the language of mathematics. Math is a way to describe reality and figure out how the world works, a universal language that has become the gold standard of truth.
Hence those who are fluent in this new language will be on the cutting edge of progress.” Such was the case with Dr. May. According to his obituary in the New York Times, his breadth of work spanned across three continents and at institutions like Princeton University, Oxford University and the Imperial College of London. He dazzled scientists in every field that his intellect touched. Dr. May had an uncanny knack for identifying key problems in the fields of study he focused on and for developing simple mathematical models that made them more understandable.
The president of the Royal Society in the U.K. had this to say: “Robert May was an extraordinary man who drove great change in every domain he committed his talents to: in research as a theoretical ecologist, in politics as chief scientific adviser to the U.K. government, and as President of the Royal Society. Bob was a natural communicator and used every available avenue to share his message that science and reason should lie at the heart of society, and he did so with a fervent pursuit that resonates with those of the society’s founding members.”
Dr. May was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1971. In 1996, he was knighted for services to science. He became one of the first people's peers in the House of Lords in 2001 and was appointed by Her Majesty The Queen to the Order of Merit in 2002. He has served in several high-profile roles, including President of the Royal Society and Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government. Major prizes include the Swedish Craaford Prize, the Japanese Blue Planet Prize, and the Swiss-Italian Balzan Prize. He was awarded the Royal Society’s Copley Medal for his seminal studies of interactions within and among biological populations that have reshaped our understanding of how species, communities and entire ecosystems respond to natural or human created disturbance.
Ecology was one of his key fields of interest, and he introduced new models and techniques to create an even greater understanding of complex ecosystems. Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. The term comes from the Greek “study of house” or the “place we live in.” His work spurred the development of the chaos theory, a mathematical theory. Chaos enables the description of a series of phenomena from the field of dynamics and the effect of forces on the motion of objects. From his discoveries, physicists, biologists, and medical researchers now know whether certain events follow mathematical laws. Anyone with an interest in the complexities of the field can learn more from James Gleick’s book “Chaos: Making a New Science” published in 1987.
From ecology, Dr. May moved to the study of infectious diseases. Together with an associate he wrote more than 80 papers on the subject. Dr. May’s gift for translating exceedingly difficult problems into useful equations came from his background in physics. His first medical study focused on mad cow disease—bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
He and Dr. Roy Anderson also created models projecting the spread of HIV in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, arriving closer to the mark than the more optimistic estimates of the World Health Organization. Both he and Anderson helped to define the variable known as R0 (pronounced R-naught) in estimating the number of new infections that would spread from a single case of illness. R0 is calculated from innate features of a disease, like how easily it jumps from one person to the next, along with the elements of human behavior that shape how often sick and susceptible people will come into contact. The term has great significance in studying the effects of the coronavirus.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, touches on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
Many provided revolutionary mathematical insights into a number of scientific unrelated fields of study. They included such stalwarts as Leonhard Euler, John Von Neumann, Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibnetz and Paul Erdos. This past week we lost another – Robert May, an Australian born scientist passed away at age 84.
He applied mathematical contributions in fields as diverse as ecology, epidemiology and finance. I understand that one way to turn off readers is to discuss mathematics in any way, shape or form. However, it is not possible to avoid the subject when discussing science. Many polymaths excel in math, in fact, it may be a prerequisite.
As one author wrote: “The laws of nature are written in the language of mathematics. Math is a way to describe reality and figure out how the world works, a universal language that has become the gold standard of truth.
Hence those who are fluent in this new language will be on the cutting edge of progress.” Such was the case with Dr. May. According to his obituary in the New York Times, his breadth of work spanned across three continents and at institutions like Princeton University, Oxford University and the Imperial College of London. He dazzled scientists in every field that his intellect touched. Dr. May had an uncanny knack for identifying key problems in the fields of study he focused on and for developing simple mathematical models that made them more understandable.
The president of the Royal Society in the U.K. had this to say: “Robert May was an extraordinary man who drove great change in every domain he committed his talents to: in research as a theoretical ecologist, in politics as chief scientific adviser to the U.K. government, and as President of the Royal Society. Bob was a natural communicator and used every available avenue to share his message that science and reason should lie at the heart of society, and he did so with a fervent pursuit that resonates with those of the society’s founding members.”
Dr. May was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1971. In 1996, he was knighted for services to science. He became one of the first people's peers in the House of Lords in 2001 and was appointed by Her Majesty The Queen to the Order of Merit in 2002. He has served in several high-profile roles, including President of the Royal Society and Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government. Major prizes include the Swedish Craaford Prize, the Japanese Blue Planet Prize, and the Swiss-Italian Balzan Prize. He was awarded the Royal Society’s Copley Medal for his seminal studies of interactions within and among biological populations that have reshaped our understanding of how species, communities and entire ecosystems respond to natural or human created disturbance.
Ecology was one of his key fields of interest, and he introduced new models and techniques to create an even greater understanding of complex ecosystems. Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. The term comes from the Greek “study of house” or the “place we live in.” His work spurred the development of the chaos theory, a mathematical theory. Chaos enables the description of a series of phenomena from the field of dynamics and the effect of forces on the motion of objects. From his discoveries, physicists, biologists, and medical researchers now know whether certain events follow mathematical laws. Anyone with an interest in the complexities of the field can learn more from James Gleick’s book “Chaos: Making a New Science” published in 1987.
From ecology, Dr. May moved to the study of infectious diseases. Together with an associate he wrote more than 80 papers on the subject. Dr. May’s gift for translating exceedingly difficult problems into useful equations came from his background in physics. His first medical study focused on mad cow disease—bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
He and Dr. Roy Anderson also created models projecting the spread of HIV in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, arriving closer to the mark than the more optimistic estimates of the World Health Organization. Both he and Anderson helped to define the variable known as R0 (pronounced R-naught) in estimating the number of new infections that would spread from a single case of illness. R0 is calculated from innate features of a disease, like how easily it jumps from one person to the next, along with the elements of human behavior that shape how often sick and susceptible people will come into contact. The term has great significance in studying the effects of the coronavirus.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, touches on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092