This is the first book I have read by Ian Stewart, and I must say I don't think it will be the last. This has proven to be a very interesting book. You won't need a background in mathematics to understand this book, so if your math phobic, don't be put off by the term mathematics in the title. Any formulas that are introduced are relegated to the notes section.
If I wouldn't have read the cover before reading the book, I would have thought I was reading a book on the subject of evolution. Essentially, Steward discusses, not only biology, but the evolutionary process and how mathematics is becoming more and more important in understanding the nature of these things.
Steward seems to have a very good grasp of biological concepts and evolutionary theory. In this book, you will get lessons on biology and evolutionary concepts which I found very helpful, and necessary, to the understanding of how mathematics relates to these things.
Most of the material in the first third of the book is about biology. As he states in the preface "the book starts from the everyday human level, and follows the historical path that led biologists to focus ever more sharply on the microscopic structure of living creatures, culminating in DNA ..." He describes five revolutions in biology: invention of the microscope, classification of life on earth, theory of evolution, discovery of the gene, discovery of the structure of DNA. The sixth revolution is mathematics role in biology, and this is what he presents in this book.
I really enjoyed the discussion in chapter four about the Fibonacci and Lucas sequences, the golden ratio and the golden angle and how these relate to things in nature such as the petals on a flower, the seeds on a sunflower, and the layout of leaves on the stems of plants. There is a discussion of embryological concepts, meiosis, mitosis, and how these function in the eukaryotic cell. The book also covers genes and what Steward calls the "molecule of life" - DNA. In chapter ten we learn about viruses and the fourth dimension, where an interesting application of mathematics to the study of viruses is presented.
I found chapter sixteen interesting where the plankton paradox is discussed. The principle of competitive exclusion states that the number of species in any environment should be no more the available niches or ways to make a living. With plankton, the niches are few, yet there is a large diversity. Here we are introduced to logistic equations, dynamical systems and a property called chaos. Cool stuff. I must read more about this in the future.
Enough with what I found interesting - I could go on. Let me conclude by saying that if you have an interest in biology or evolution and want to see how mathematics relates to these things, you must read this book.
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