Jotun Hein
Encyclopedia
Jotun Piet Hein is Professor of Bioinformatics
at the Department of Statistics
of the University of Oxford
and a professorial fellow of University College, Oxford
. Hein was previously Director of Bioinformatics Research Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark
.
Hein is the fourth son of Piet Hein
, the Danish scientist, mathematician, inventor, designer, author, and poet who wrote the famed Grooks poetry collections and invented the Superegg
and the Soma cube
. When he was 12 years old, Jotun proved the Soma cube
's "Basalt Rock" construction impossible, which was published in the puzzle's instruction manual as "Jotun's Proof."
Hein's research interests are in molecular evolution
, molecular population genetics
and bioinformatics.
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technology to the field of biology and medicine. Bioinformatics deals with algorithms, databases and information systems, web technologies, artificial intelligence and soft computing, information and computation theory, software...
at the Department of Statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and a professorial fellow of University College, Oxford
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
. Hein was previously Director of Bioinformatics Research Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
Hein is the fourth son of Piet Hein
Piet Hein
Piet Hein is the name of:* Piet Pieterszoon Hein , Dutch naval commander and folk hero* Piet Hein , descendant of the above, Danish poet and scientist...
, the Danish scientist, mathematician, inventor, designer, author, and poet who wrote the famed Grooks poetry collections and invented the Superegg
Superegg
In geometry, a superegg is a solid of revolution obtained by rotating an elongated super-ellipse with exponent greater than 2 around its longest axis. It is a special case of super-ellipsoid....
and the Soma cube
Soma cube
The Soma cube is a solid dissection puzzle invented by Piet Hein in 1933 during a lecture on quantum mechanics conducted by Werner Heisenberg. Seven pieces made out of unit cubes must be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube...
. When he was 12 years old, Jotun proved the Soma cube
Soma cube
The Soma cube is a solid dissection puzzle invented by Piet Hein in 1933 during a lecture on quantum mechanics conducted by Werner Heisenberg. Seven pieces made out of unit cubes must be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube...
's "Basalt Rock" construction impossible, which was published in the puzzle's instruction manual as "Jotun's Proof."
Hein's research interests are in molecular evolution
Molecular evolution
Molecular evolution is in part a process of evolution at the scale of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Molecular evolution emerged as a scientific field in the 1960s as researchers from molecular biology, evolutionary biology and population genetics sought to understand recent discoveries on the structure...
, molecular population genetics
Population genetics
Population genetics is the study of allele frequency distribution and change under the influence of the four main evolutionary processes: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. It also takes into account the factors of recombination, population subdivision and population...
and bioinformatics.
Selected books
- Hein, J; Schierup, M. H., and Wiuf, C. Gene Genealogies, Variation and Evolution – A Primer in Coalescent Theory. Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2005. ISBN 0-19-852996-1.