These notes for computer labs accompany our textbook Dynamic Models in Biology (Princeton
University Press 2006). They are based in part on course materials by former TAs ColleenWebb,
Jonathan Rowell and Daniel Fink at Cornell, Professors Lou Gross (University of Tennessee)
and Paul Fackler (NC State University), and on the book Getting Started with Matlab by Rudra
Pratap (Oxford University Press). So far as we know, the exercises here and in the textbook can
all be done using the Student Edition of Matlab, or a regular base license without additional
Toolboxes.
Sections 1-7 are a general introduction to the basics of the Matlab language, which we generally
cover in 2 or 3 lab sessions, depending on how much previous Matlab experience students have
had. These contain many sample calculations. It is important to do these yourselves { type
them in at your keyboard and see what happens on your screen { to get the feel of
working in Matlab. Exercises in the middle of a section should be done immediately when you
get to them, and make sure that you have them right before moving on. Exercises at the ends
of these sections are often more challenging and more appropriate as homework exercises.
The subsequent sections are linked to our textbook, in fairly obvious ways. For example, section
8 on matrix computations goes with Chapter 2 on matrix models for structured populations, and
section 15 on phase-plane analysis of the Morris-Lecar model accompanies the corresponding
section in Chapter 5 of the textbook. The exercises here include some that are intended to be
'warmups' for exercises in the book (e.g. , simple examples of simulating discrete-event models,
as a warmup for doing discrete-event simulations of infectious disease dynamics).
