Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-1996

Publication Title

Biology and Philosophy

Department

Department of Biological Sciences

Abstract

In the 1960s molecular population geneticists used Monte Carlo experiments to evaluate particular diffusion equation models. In this paper I examine the nature of this comparative evaluation and argue for three claims: first, Monte Carlo experiments are genuine experiments: second, Monte Carlo experiments can provide an important means for evaluating the adequacy of highly idealized theoretical models; and, third, the evaluation of the computational adequacy of a diffusion model with Monte Carlo experiments is significantly different from the evaluation of the empirical adequacy of the same diffusion model.

DOI

10.1007/BF00128786

Original Citation

Dietrich, M.R. Monte Carlo experiments and the defense of diffusion models in molecular population genetics. Biol Philos 11, 339–356 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00128786

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