Epistemologiczne problemy w biologii subkomórkowej: obserwacje, modele matematyczne i symulacje komputerowe

Relations between theory and empirical knowledge belong to basic problemsin philosophy of science and have been undergone detailed philosophical reflection,including epistemological aspects. During last several dozen years,due to development of computer technology, numerical simulations becamea common tool in natural sciences. Their epistemological aspects, however,have not worked out yet. A specific role of computer simulations manifestsin subcellular biology, where possibilities of performing experiments and observationsare limited. Computer simulation is complementary to observationand experiment and comes into complex relations with them. It allows us tocome to a conclusion if experiment or observations are impossible to perform.In particular, simulations allow researchers to estimate the parameters thatcannot be measured.