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Is there something specific about modelling that distinguishes it from many other theoretical endeavours? We consider Michael Weisberg's ([2007], [2013]) thesis that modelling is a form of indirect representation through a close examination of the historical roots of the Lotka-Volterra model. While Weisberg discusses only Volterra's work, we also study Lotka's very different design of the Lotka-Volterra model. We will argue that while there are elements of indirect representation in both Volterra's and Lotka's modelling approaches, they are largely due to two other features of contemporary model construction processes that Weisberg does not explicitly consider: the methods-drivenness and outcome-orientedness of modelling. 1Introduction2Modelling as Indirect Representation3The Design of the Lotka-Volterra Model by Volterra 3.1Volterra's method of hypothesis3.2The construction of the Lotka-Volterra model by Volterra4The Design of the Lotka-Volterra Model by Lotka 4.1Physical biology according to Lotka4.2Lotka's systems approach and the Lotka-Volterra model5Philosophical Discussion: Strategies and Tools of Modelling 5.1Volterra's path from the method of isolation to the method of hypothesis5.2The template-based approach of Lotka5.3Modelling: methods-driven and outcome-oriented6Conclusion

One striking feature of the contemporary modeling practice is its interdisciplinarity: the same function forms and equations, and mathematical and computational methods are being transferred across disciplinary boundaries. Within philosophy of science this interdisciplinary dimension of modeling has been addressed by both analogy and template-based approaches that have proceeded separately from each other. We argue that a more fully-blown account of model transfer needs both perspectives. We examine analogical reasoning and template application through a detailed case study on the transfer of the Ising model from physics into neuroscience. Our account combines the analogy and template-based approaches through the notion of a model template that highlights the conceptual side of model transfer.