Challenges in Modeling Nonlinear Systems: A Worked Example

The interaction between nonlinear dynamics and statistics has been rather limited over the two decades of concentrated work in nonlinear systems by physicat and biological scientists. This chapter is meant to be a contribution to stimulating that interaction by presenting a discussion of a problem in biology which is addressed by tools of nonlinear dynamics and by posing, along the way, issues of statistical relevance not answered by the community of nonlinear dynamicists.