A Book Review on the Book: The Mathematics of Life

A Book Review on the Book: The Mathematics of Life

The very goal of the author is to establish that Mathematics' contribution in Biology is very essential and with that he wanted Mathematics to not just be on the background but rather to be part of the picture where one can see its use immediately. For the author’s first paragraphs, he made mention of five revolutions that has happened over the years that made biology what it is today. With that five, he was hoping to add the sixth revolution and that is his goal to genuinely integrate Biology with Mathematics. In the first chapter of the book, he enumerated the five revolutions. The five revolutions were the following: the invention of the microscope, the development of system of classifications, Darwin’s Origin of Species, the founding of Genetics by Gregor Mendel, and the discovery of the structure of DNA. Though still in the very first chapter, he has already made mention one of the major contributions of Mathematics in Biology which is Bioinformatics. In the following chapter, he made it to the point to start from the basic unit of life, cell. There, he talked about how the first revolution paved the way for the discovery of cell. He has named some personalities whom I am hundred percent sure you all know, the likes of Jansenn, Leuwenhoek and Hooke. In the third chapter, something has caught my attention and that was a sentence saying that the first edition of Encyclopedia Britannica is an entry of how many creatures are there in Noah’s ark. The second revolution was also discussed here. Still in this chapter, it is said that what’s important in classifying is not the characteristics that easily attracts attention. I also found what JBS Haldane said about why there are many species of beetles funny. He said that God has fondness for the said animal.

            In the fourth chapter, it is said that Mathematics was able to squeeze itself to Biology through geometry. The number of petals in a flower and the seed heads all use geometry. Though Mathematics applies in numerology and geometry of plants it still has a range of validity. In the fifth chapter, Darwin’s work, Origin of Species, was discussed. Here I was surprised that his work did not make an impact when presented in the annual gathering of the Linnaean Society. Also, it was also said that even before Darwin proposed about Natural Selection, Aristotle has already an idea about it but doesn’t just use the term natural selection or survival. In the sixth chapter, the fourth revolution was discussed and the star in this chapter is Gregor Mendel and his garden peas. Though irrelevant, I just wanted to point out that before reading this chapter, I didn’t know that Mendel was actually born in Germany and his real name is Johann. Well, Mendel’s ideas on Genetics were not widely accepted because before they believe in blending theory and pangenesis. In chapter seven, I was so ignorant not to know that ancestors of modern man had once made sex with a Neanderthal. I was so shocked.  There is also another Mathematical inference her which is the X-ray diffraction. In Chapter 8, the Human Genome Project was discussed along with its rival which that of Celera. Both have the goal of completing the gene codes in a human but I different approach. HGP make use of “use of clever chemistry to simplify maths” while celera make use of “use the clever math to simplify chemistry.

            In the ninth chapter, mathematics once again proved to have use in Biology through a diagram and mathematics tree, a cladogram. There was also a mention of horizontal and vertical gene. In chapter 10, geometry comes in again with its application in knowing how viruses look. In Chapter 11, it talked more on nerve cells and how the people before take no importance of the brain thinking that it does not have any function. There was also a mention of FitzHugh–Nagumo equations and Hodgkin–Huxley equations that were mathematical models applied to nerve cells and axons. Topology was the highlight in chapter 12 and the use of Mathematical models to explain how an embryo develops was the highlight in Chapter 13.Still in chapter 13, Alan Turing was mentioned as one who developed ideas on spots and stripes based on biological theory on pattern formation after becoming interested on the markings on animals. In chapter 14, there was a discussion of survival and evolution having the lizard mating as an example. In chapter 14, it talks about how each species contain networks within itself and how this network may benefit another species. An example given was that of a slime mould in a railway project. Chapter 16 was mainly on ecosystem and the interrelationship of organisms and its interaction with the environment while the focus of chapter 17 is the definition of life. Chapter 18 talks about the possibility of having life forms outside Earth and in the last chapter it talked about the goal of the author or the sixth revolution which is the “could be marriage” of Mathematics and Biology.

            The book generally talks about the instances on how Math can be of great help to Biology. Though he had mention some equations and he said that there are Mathematical models that can be of great help in explaining biological systems and processes, he did not really expound on the explanations and I find it hanging at the end. On a positive note, I commend the author for having explained the facts he had presented orderly knowing the fact that it is Biology and he is a mathematician. Even if there are things that I still need to fully understand, I agree that Biology needs Mathematics. Sciences are like humans that cannot stand alone. One science cannot expand without the help of other sciences.