"Mathematics of Life celebrates the
rich variety of connection between Mathematics and Biology (Stewart, 2011)."
Biology students watch out,
mathematics is coming.
So here we are again indulging
ourselves in a brainy book review but this time it is not about mathematics
alone. This time we are discussing two fields married to be couples forever.
Biology and mathematics together forever.
First of all I would just like to warn
all the upcoming readers of this book to brace themselves because this book is
19 chapters full of information about life forms and functions and different
applications and connections of math in biology.
This is not a book of math alone.
While reading the book I didn’t expect that it will present many biological
facts. TRIVIA: This is the only book that I was able to read the Preface and I
find it very interesting and scary. It made me realize that there is no room
for escape for Mathematics in Biology. These two fields are connected since the
prehistoric times. Mathematics was first used in biology to just record simple
data and do some statistical things that will help the scientist in the
research. Mathematics is just a servant. At least biologist before was not
tortured by mathematics that much unlike now. I chose this course to avoid math
but I WAS WROOOONG!
Discoveries in biology nowadays are
butt naked if there is no Mathematics involved. It is just plain and lacks
proving. The book mainly tackles the first five revolutions in biology. (1) The
invention of microscope, (2) Systematic classification of planet’s living
creatures, (3) The theory of evolution, (4) The discovery of the gene, (5) The
discovery of the structure of DNA.
These five revolutions in biology are
like the posts in the building, the gasoline for the car, the electricity for
the television or the light for the world. Yes I am using a lot of flowering
words because the author himself used a lot of them. I do not understand why he
needs to use so many words in order to explain a simple thought. So back to the
topic, the five revolutions were like the foundations of modern biology without
this thing we can not study systematically biology. There will be many
questions that is needed to be answer and there is always a missing piece to
the puzzle.
While reading the book further I said
to myself what is wrong with this guy (I am referring to the author, If you are
not an English guy or good in English you are going to need a dictionary by
your side.) because he uses so many words that lengthens his flow of thought
and slightly complicates it a bit. But one of the amazing points that the
author did is that he explains a lot of biology and then without you knowing it
he inserts Math. The first part of the book talks about the five revolutions, I
will not tackle that here so that you will read the book by yourself and might
as well experience the thing that I experienced while reading the book.
The book showed and exhibited lots of
technicalities. Mr. Ian Stewart surely did a lot of research while writing this
book. Now I am not even sure if he is a mathematician or a biologist himself.
Why not call a biologist a biologian? Just fooling around. Anyways this book is
well researched and shows a lot of connection between Mathematics and Biology.
My favorite part in this book was when
he tackled about the Noah’s Ark (The big boat that saved all the life forms in
earth from the great flood.) I am a religious person and trust me when I say
Noah’s Ark is one of my favorite stories stated in the Bible. I admired how Mr.
Ian Stewart tackled the Noah’s Ark but does not ridiculed and disrespect the
believers. He showed the inconsistency of the size of the Ark itself and
showing that it can not carry almost all the species in the earth and the best
part was he tackled about the let me quote: “… there is some ambiguity about
creatures that live in water …” The great flood will cause a less salty sea and
it will not be suitable for creatures living in the salt water and the extra
salt in the fresh water would also kill the fresh water creatures. So
everything must have gone to the Ark he said. All I can say is that it is God
great power and miracle. This part of the book really caught my attention
because it never came into my mind to scrutinize the story of Noah’s Ark.
As the book goes further to depths of
more biology facts and uses of math in it, it presents the sixth revolution
Mathematics. He presents so many evidences and different mathematical concepts
and tries to persuade you every single time but do not worry he will not let
you solve any mathematical problems.
The marriage of these two fields opens
up many opportunities. Biology can not stand alone without mathematics for me
she (referring to biology) is the bride. Biology is dependent in mathematics so
much. She needs statistics to analyze many results in the studies; she needs
mathematics to provide formulas for different rates, expected results and
patterns; she needs math to prove herself to the world that she is real.
Mathematics as the loyal husband helps biology in every step it takes.
Mathematics can stand on its own but biology can’t. The fusion of the two
fields is definitely the sixth revolution. Thumbs up for Mr Ian Stewart, great
book and definitely a good read.
No comments:
Post a Comment