Model behaviour  by Phil Wilson  Issue 25 May 2003  The essence
of mathematical modelling is simplification. Natural events are
the result of multiple interrelated processes, themselves
dependent on a history of other processes, in an almost endless
web of cause and effect. To study a system, the mathematical
modeller begins by identifying the crucial aspects of the
system, those that seem to characterize it. Initially, she need
not concern herself with how such characteristics come to be,
only with how to describe them in simple mathematical terms.
This is a very human approach. Many of us will have encountered
it when learning a language, and probably even day to day while
learning the universal language of mathematics. We may have been
given examples of similar triangles or of imaginary numbers to
play around with and get a feel for, before being taught the
underlying theory. And you will no doubt be aware that as the
mathematical journey continues you will uncover yet more subtle
and profound detail behi