Variational principles and biology

Dear Pedro and Allan and all,

        Thank you for the interesting infomation about the evolution of
neurons. Now that I am in Spain I will definitely have a look about your
new book in order to further consider the idea of variational principles. I
have more of a background in Ethology where we only really consider one
basic theory, natural selection. Would you consider this a variational
principle and how close is this idea to what you propose in order to
understand the
nervous system, or what Allan calls the information/energy-driven dynamics
of the brain?

        Ideally I would be interested in applying the ideas of information
science (or just "information theory"?) into a comprehensive methodology to
analyze animal behaviour in general. Any ideas or references that you all
think I could start with? I have spent four years analyzing the
reproductive behaviour of kestrels (by the way, the most frequently
copulating birds) and in general I concluded that a complex set of
behavioral signals, particularly tactile ones, are involved in the transfer
of reproductive and fitness status intersexually.

Cheers,

Morris
Received on Tue May 19 23:30:04 1998