Pharmaco-Complexity Non-Linear Phenomena and Drug Product Developmen
The historical approach to the interpretation of physical, chemical and biological phenomena has been to consider relationships with causative factors that can be reduced to linearity allowing simple and direct interpretation. However, it is increasingly
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Anthony J. Hickey Hugh D.C. Smyth ●
Pharmaco-Complexity Non-Linear Phenomena and Drug Product Development
Anthony J. Hickey, Ph.D. University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA [email protected]
Hugh D.C. Smyth, Ph.D. University of Texas Austin, TX 78712, USA [email protected]
ISSN 2191-3188 e-ISSN 2191-3196 ISBN 978-1-4419-7855-4 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-7856-1 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-7856-1 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London © American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists 2011 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
The interpretation of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena as linear relationships between variables, or as simple functions of the variables, has been a significant scientific and mathematical strategy to their elucidation for centuries. It is often the case that the nature of linearity is to follow mathematical functions, e.g., power, exponential, or logarithmic functions, nevertheless the desire to fit data to simple predictable expressions is imbued in every scientist and engineer. From a philosophical standpoint, there is no reason to criticize this approach as it allows us to interpret the natural world and has a lofty heritage going back to the classical world. However, nonlinear phenomena have been identified in many fields and interpreted as periodic, catastrophic, chaotic, or complex involving a variety of mathematical tools for analysis. Benoit Mandelbrot’s classic book on the fractal geometry of nature and the many subsequent texts, most recently Wolfram’s magnum opus A New Kind of Science, have raised questions about the nature of reality and the interpretation of observed phenomena. It seems clear that the complexity of dynamic events (on any scale) can rarely be explained by linear interpretations. The rare exceptions are likely to represent a convergence of multiple phenomena giving the appearance of a linear relationship between variables. In fields related to pharmaceutical sciences, some texts have been written by pioneers such as Brian Kaye. His eminently readable A Random Walk Through Fractal Dimensions and Chaos and Complexity were seminal volumes for the auth
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