September 17th, 2018

Who
What
Why
How

## I am Andres Aravena

• Assistant Professor at Molecular Biology and Genomics Department
• Mathematical Engineer, U. of Chile
• PhD Informatics, U Rennes 1, France
• PhD Mathematical Modeling, U. of Chile
• not a Biologist
• but an Applied Mathematician who can speak “biologist language”

world

## Chile

chile

17 million people

Spanish colony 500 years ago (so language is Spanish)

Independent Republic 200 years ago

First Latin American country to recognize Turkish republic

Everyday life very similar to Turkey

binbirgece

## Latin America in Turkey

Foreigners enrich the hosting countries. Just look at the food:

• Corn is from North and South America: maiz
• Tomato is Mexican: tomates
• Potato is from Chile and Peru: patatas

tomato potato corn

Diversity increases opportunities

## Course Homepage

Visit anaraven.bitbucket.io/blog/2018/cmb1

Classes will be published there

You must fill the online survey in that page

## Attendance

By regulation from the Rectory, students need to attend at least 70% of the classes

The attendance book is updated every week and published online

We will have several quizzes and homework during the semester

## Why do I ask “why?”?

This idea is from author Simon Sinek

Search him on Google. It is interesting

Tell me what you think about his ideas

## Computers are rule changers

Modern computers were created to solve math equations

Then they were used to handle big databases

They became cheap and found everywhere

They became communication tools

They transformed society and science

## How many computers do you use?

• Cellphone
• TV
• Cable decoder
• Microwave oven
• Washing machine
• Car motor
• Metro
• Elevator
• Notebook

## Computers transformed

• The banking industry
• The air travel industry
• The manufacturing
• The cars
• The movies
• Science

## 1 Empiric

• observation of isolated facts
• description of related facts
• e.g. Botany, naming stars, Arab astronomers, Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Carl Linneaus

## 2 Theoretical

• Abstract models and theories
• Usually expressed in mathematical formulas
• Correct predictions validate the models
• e.g. Mendel laws of inheritance, Darwin natural selection theory, Kepler law of planet’s motion, Newton’s law of Gravity

## 3 Simulation Based

• Models that cannot be expressed in formulas
• Formulas that cannot be solved
• e.g. Protein structure prediction, three body problem, galaxy modeling
• Computational Astronomy, Computational Biology

## 4 Data Based

• Discovering patterns hidden in data
• Huge volumes of data
• Complex interactions
• e.g. Bioinformatics, Astroinformatics, Data mining

## What does Computer means?

A computer is a counter

Normally was a person that did calculations

Sometimes with the help of mechanical devices

During the 2nd World War people invented electronic computers

So, computers are devices handling numbers

## “but I don’t use numbers …”

Don’t worry

Using numbers we can represent other things

In my country kids play this game:

They change vowels A, E, I, O, U by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Then they write H2LL4

Using the same idea we can represent any text

## Notice …

… that we have represented sounds by signs for centuries

The key word here is represent

## Numbers can represent other things

There are three things in the Universe

• Matter
• Energy
• Information

Information can be put in digital (numeric) form

• Images
• Audio
• Movies

not yet

• smell
• taste
• tact

## What can a modern computer do?

Computers handle numbers

Numbers represent information

Computers can transform and transfer information

## So, What is a Computer

Computer
(English) counter, calculator
Ordinateur
(French) sorter, gives order to data, handles data
Bilgisayar
(Turkish) Information/Data counter

## Question:

Who invented computers?

## What do you do with a computer?

Do you have a computer at home?

What do you use it for?

## What can a computer do?

• calculate formulas
• solve (some) equations
• store and retrieve huge quantities of data
• find patterns in data
• find data matching a pattern
• transform data in useful ways
• compress data
• move data at low cost without distortion

## Programs

Many different questions can be solved with the same rules

It is just a matter of changing the program

First electromechanical computers were like us: A sequence of devices, each one feeding the next

Changing the program required physical change of pieces

## Stored program

### The key step

John Von Neumann realized that the set of steps can be also stored in memory (coded as numbers, obviously)

We only need to include

• a pointer to the current instruction
• a system to decide which arithmetic/logic rule apply

This is called Central Process Unit (CPU)

## What is a computer?

Is a general purpose device that can

• read, process and write numbers
• (and things that can be represented by numbers)
• to and from the memory
• following a program stored also in the memory
• many simple steps

Changing the program changes the purpose of the machine

## Fill the survey at the course homepage

Visit anaraven.bitbucket.io/blog/2018/cmb1 and fill the survey