Joel E. Keizer (31 August, 1942 - 16 May, 1999) was an American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and university professor. He is principally known for his work in

non-equilibrium thermodynamics Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is a branch of thermodynamics that deals with physical systems that are not in thermodynamic equilibrium but can be described in terms of macroscopic quantities (non-equilibrium state variables) that represent an ext ...

and mathematical modelling of cellular phenomena, in particular human production of

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...

Canonical theory

Canonical theory is a

molecular theory A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioch ...

developed by Keizer and coworkers which claims to explain many physical, chemical, and biological processes in an unified and canonical way. Ronald F. Fox and Keizer showed the application of the canonical theory to

chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements * Chaos (''Kinnikuman'') * Chaos (''Sailor Moon'') * Chaos (''Sesame Park'') * Chaos (''Warhammer'') * Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy'' * Cha ...

. Keizer used the canonical form for the first formulation of statistical

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of the ...

valid in far from equilibrium regimes, where the

Onsager reciprocal relations In thermodynamics, the Onsager reciprocal relations express the equality of certain ratios between flows and forces in thermodynamic systems out of equilibrium, but where a notion of local equilibrium exists. "Reciprocal relations" occur betwe ...

and the

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

formula for the fluctuations do not work. Keizer also provided fluctuating generalizations of the

Boltzmann equation The Boltzmann equation or Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) describes the statistical behaviour of a thermodynamic system not in a state of equilibrium, devised by Ludwig Boltzmann in 1872.Encyclopaedia of Physics (2nd Edition), R. G. Lerne ...

and of hydrodynamics (fluctuating hydrodynamics). The applications of his work to

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

are the reason that he was considered as one of the pioneers in the field of

computational biology Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and big data, the field also has fo ...

Cosma Shalizi Cosma Rohilla Shalizi (born February 28, 1974) is an associate professor in the Department of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Life Cosma Rohilla Shalizi is of Tamil, Afghan and Italian heritage and was born in Boston, ...

wrote:

Chapter five applies the canonical theory to various chemical and electrochemical processes. There is a detailed comparison of a model based on the formalism to actual experimental data for a calcium-regulated
potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...
channel in muscle cells, yielding remarkably close agreement (especially since the channel is really just a single molecule!)... Keizer was, until his premature death in May, 1999, an active and talented scientist who played a significant role not merely in the development of the formal structure of far from equilibrium thermodynamics, but also in its application to experiment, especially in biology. Unlike a number of others who have attempted such cross-overs, he made it work.

Besides the unification of disparate topics as chemical reactions, hydrodynamics, or heat transport in solids, the canonical theory has been applied to solving the problems of traditional disciplines as

statistical mechanics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic be ...

.{{cite web, url=http://stoner.phys.uaic.ro/old/ANALE/Anale_1995_1996/An_Univ_Iasi_1995_1996_14.pdf, title=About the Conservation Equations in Stochastic Canonical Theory, publisher=phys.uaic.ro, last=Oprişan, first=Sorinel Adrian, access-date=2012-02-11, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325211300/http://stoner.phys.uaic.ro/old/ANALE/Anale_1995_1996/An_Univ_Iasi_1995_1996_14.pdf, archive-date=2012-03-25, url-status=dead

References

Molecular physics