Biography
William (Bill) Bialek is the John Archibald Wheeler/Battelle Professor in
Physics at Princeton University. He is interested in whether theories with
the generality and elegance that we expect in physics can capture the
beautiful and complex phenomena of life. His style of theory/experiment
collaboration was shaped profoundly by a postdoctoral year in Groningen.
He has been recognized by the Max Delbrück Prize in Biological Physics
and by election to the US National Academy of Sciences, among other
honors.
Title: Bridging worlds: Physics problems in the phenomena of life
Abstract
In the nineteenth century, the phenomena of life were seen as challenges
to our understanding of physics itself. In the twentieth century the view
shifted, and we were to said to be “applying the methods of physics to the
problem of biology.” In the twenty-first century there has been a
rediscovery of life as a source of deep physics questions, across all scales:
the quantum dynamics of energy harvesting in photosynthesis, the ability of
cells and organisms to make precise decisions in the face of irreducible
physical noise sources, collective behavior in flocks of birds, the
emergence of computation and even intelligence from networks of neurons,
and more. I will give a brief survey of these exciting developments, and
then dig into the common physical principles for the flow of information in
genetic and neural networks
