Professor Skyrms is focussing his research on evaluating the explanatory significance of equilibrium concepts in biological and decision sciences. The significance of equilibrium depends on there being underlying dynamics. Evolutionary and ecological dynamics are relevant in biology. Various kinds of adaptational and learning dynamics are relevant in decision sciences. But when the dynamics is explicitly modeled, new questions arise which may call into question the explanatory significance of equilibrium. We are first led to ask: "how is equilibrium reached?" Perhaps the dynamics does not lead to an equilibrium, but rather exhibits periodic, quasi-periodic, or chaotic behavior. And even if equilibrium remains important, the most plausible dynamics may lead to a revision of the equilibrium concept. These considerations have led Professor Skyrms to rethink the question of the explanatory significance of equilibrium.
