Biological Membranes—Models and Fashion

Abstract

A model is an abstraction of Nature. It can be very concrete and practical, e.g., given by a protocol to construct a particular sample for experimental investigation, or it can be given by a precise mathematical formula that lends itself to a theoretical calculation. A model can also be less well-defined and sometimes even implicit in the mind of the researcher. The concept of a model or model system is one of the cornerstones in natural sciences. It is a powerful and necessary tool to facilitate our perception of complex natural phenomena. The model helps us to ask some relevant and fruitful questions out of the millions of possible questions that can be asked. It helps us to guide experiments and to perform theoretical calculations. And it is instrumental for interpreting the results of our endeavors. A good model is a blessing, but it can also be a curse. It may bias our thinking too strongly if we forget that it is just a model and not Nature herself. Models need constantly to be scrutinized and questioned, even the most successful ones, not least because models reflect fashion among scientists.