Oh Math, LIFE Would Suck Without Youuu

To start things off, I was thrilled to read this book because finally, I would have read a book that certainly related Mathematics to the branch of science that I have long been interested in which is of course Biology. At least with this book, I could have definitely connected with because I do love Biology and this paves the way in wiping out some of the blurs in understanding how gravely important Math is in, well, pretty much everything.

The book opened up stating that Math could pass as being practically invisible relative to the life sciences. It was like at most a supporting actor but it never garnered the best actor award. It has not instigated the unraveling of what the other branches of knowledge could offer.  However, as time passed by, the tables have turned because inquiries have sprouted which could not be answered by science alone. This fortunately allowed Mathematics to finally shine. This made scientists and mathematicians to team up in order to solve the great mysteries of the world and beyond and even including the emergence of life itself. 

The author, Ian Stewart, mentioned "five revolutions" in biology which were the invention of the microscope which allowed humans to further observe what cannot be seen by the naked eye. Eventually, the developments made in the microscope lead to the discovery and deeper analysis of the cells.  The next one was about the systematic cataloging and organization of the organisms by the famous Carolus Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy. Then there was evolution in which Charles Darwin became the star who also wrote the book entitled "The Origin of Species". It was defined to be the gradual change, even though slow, over time in the appearances and behaviors of organisms. The fourth was genetics which was revolutionized by Gregor Mendel who experimented with peas and practically discovered that genes existed in the bodies of organisms. Then, the last revolution was the discovery of the structure of the DNA through x-ray diffraction with Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins to be recognized for because technically, they have initially discovered it and the tag team of James Watson and Francis Crick have mounted the existing data to build the double helix structure DNA.

Stewart pointed out that with each of these revolutions, Mathematics was inevitable, and this was his goal: to reveal the true power of mathematics in the context of life itself. Math is always important because not only did it become a tool for biological concepts but it was also an integral key in the deeper understanding for said concepts. With these claims, he induced the sixth revolution which was of course, Mathematics. It seemed to fill in the gaps that cannot be answered by merely science itself. As stated in the book, there are lots and lots of mathematical applications in Biology which would allow scientists to discover missing links in some topics and to further improve the knowledge that is already present. Math has definitely strengthened the foundation that supports the powerful concepts and insights in Biology.      

          Personally, I appreciate the author’s way of writing this book. This would be one of the non-fictional books that I have enjoyed reading. Well, I could say this with a bit of bias since I am really inclined to Biology and this book provided new points concerning the correlation between the two disciplines. It has definitely opened up the readers into a whole new appreciation for Math. I have already known that the varied fields of knowledge are interrelated, for example, Mathematics and Biology. Math has supplied Biology with concepts that have helped solve problems like the probabilities of how many of the progeny are to express the given phenotypes in genetics or determining cell count and size by solving in the context of microscopy and it is very obvious that even plants and animals naturally exemplify certain mathematical patterns. But even with this present knowledge that I have, I still have not entirely grasped upon how and why they are entirely connected and that is why this book was a great way in widening my scope of understanding on this. But I also could not say that the whole book was satisfying because it lingered more on biological concepts instead of explaining more about the excellent contributions of mathematics to the life sciences so it left me hanging. However, this makes me more excited in future readings that would further strengthen the bond between Math and the study of life.

Nevertheless, I could still say that the author did a wonderful job in writing this book. It was very well written and he has relayed his insights to his readers quite successfully. I really liked the part where calculations were made to stand that life may very well be present in some other, although far planet. I even felt for quite a moment that I was reading a Biology book because it was jampacked with biological concepts which were already very familiar.

And so, to end this review, I would just like to leave these words: Mathematics may be neglected by a lot but its scope is vast and is applied everywhere and therefore should receive the recognition that it deserves.