Transformation

*Transformation has two meanings in molecular biology: **Transformation (genetics) is the genetic alteration of a cell (biology) resulting from the introduction, uptake and expression of foreign DNA. **Transformation is also the process by which normal cells are converted into cells that will continue to divide without limit. Normal cells can divide only a certain number of times before they will stop dividing. Cells that have been transformed no longer have such a limit (for example, cancer cells) are able to grow and divide potentially forever. *In mathematics, a Transformation (mathematics) is a general term applied to mathematical functions, usually but not always meaning that they are considered in terms of their geometry and are invertible. *In music, a transformation is any operation or process that may be applied to a musical variable, usually a set or tone row in twelve tone technique, such as transposition (music), inversion (music), multiplication, retrograde, or rotation (disambiguation) and combinations thereof. See: operation, permutation (music). *Transformation can be a synonym for metamorphosis and shapeshifting, as in the stories featured on the Transformation Stories Archive. *In the terms of military operations, transformation is the process of transitioning to a lightweight, fast-moving force that heavily utilizes network-centric warfare. [http://www.oft.osd.mil/] *In post-apartheid South Africa, transformation has come to mean the processes by which the previously disenfanchised (predominantly black) majority are brought into the mainstream of public and business life. Legislation and public policy make black economic empowerment a key aspect of most equity-related business deals or government contracts. *''Transformation (novel)'' is the title of a 2000 novel by Carol Berg *In anime, a naked transformation might be used by magical girls to change from their "normal" to "magical" forms, although typically they will be partially obscured for purposes of censorship in order to maintain an equivalent to PG rating. The purpose of this is simply as an act of pure fanservice. * In chemistry a chemical transformation shows the conversion (chemistry) of a substrate to a product omitting the reagents or catalysts.

Transformation

The section on mathematical transformation: the operation of moving, scaling and rotating are translations, not transformations. Transformations convert between orthogonal systems. For instance, the Fourier transform and Laplace transform perform transformations. -- User:Kevin baas 22:25, 11 Jan 2004 (UTC) :I agree. Strictly speaking, you're probably right; but I've always heard the two terms used interchangeably, at least in the context of 3D computer graphics. Sometimes the word "transformation" is used in discussing scaling/rotation, in order to distinguish it from an x,y,z translation (movement) which involves no rotation or scaling (the current version of the article Translation (geometry), for instance, uses this definition). If you say "apply a scaling transformation" to a graphics programmer, he knows what you mean. Perhaps this point should be made clearer in the article, but I do think the mathematical context should be left in, perhaps with a link to a related article on translation. -- User:Wapcaplet 05:14, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC) :p.s. - See also the article on Linear transformation, which also supports the "transformation" terminology. -- User:Wapcaplet 05:17, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC) ::Yeah, I concede. (There's also: affine transformation.) I like the change you made and am quite satisfied with it. The only reason I brought the issue up in the first place is because I was looking for a page on transforms such as the Fourier transform or the Laplace transform. I ultimately constructed a List of transforms, but in the process of research I had come across this page, and I wanted the two concepts to be disambiguated. Linear transformation sufficiently disambiguates, and is in a way a more informative terminology in that it clearly specifies that it preserves linear combinations, and that it is, quite definitively, anything that preserves linear combinations. The definition is therefore almost contained completely in the terminology! In any case, I bid you adeui(?sp) my good sir. -- User:Kevin baas 08:27, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC)

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