Revealing the Paradox of Existence: The Insertion of "X" in Biology

 “Biology used to be about plants, animals and insects, but five great revolutions have changed the way scientists think about life. A sixth is on its way.” These are the first words by Ian Stewart in his book entitled The Mathematics of Life published in 2011. Stewart stressed that there are five great revolutions which he refers to the innovations in the field of biology – invention of microscope, taxonomy, evolution, genetics, and the structure of DNA. Eventually, he referred the sixth revolution in biology – mathematics.

Mathematics seems to be not appealing for some classical biologists for they see it as a different world. The reason is that they forecast mathematics exists in the realms of physical sciences such as in physics. Classical biologists did not realize the importance of mathematics as a tool for data analysis. In our time, modern biologists use mathematics by applying its concepts in making discoveries and formulating new knowledge.

The early chapters of the book are densely focused on biology. In chapter two, he stated that religious views were accepted positively on the discovery of microscopy and microbiology. Contrary to the acceptance of microscopy, there were negative reactions on the mundane aspects such as Galileo’s heliocentric views of the universe. Earliest accounts stated that the great Emperor Nero was a pioneer in the use of lenses for reading. The birth of the microscope has led us to the world of cells. Among the prominent personalities in this chapter were Hans and Zaccharias Jansen, who were credited as the pioneers of the telescope and the microscope. Galileo Galilei improved the early telescopes and studied astronomy, sparking his views about the universe which he was highly criticized by the Catholic Church on his heliocentric theory.

Innovations of the microscope were continued by Antoine van Leeuwenhoek who made lenses for microscope which were considered powerful. Leeuwenhoek was the first one to discover the morphology of bacteria, yeast, and microorganisms thriving at the ponds. He observed that there were tiny compartments which he called animalcules. His invention remains a legacy which these animalcules became the pioneer in studying microbiology and cells. His legacy was continued by Robert Hooke, an English polymath and philosopher. Hooke showed the complexity of a typical flea is. Similar to Leeuwenhoek’s findings, Hooke found tiny chambers as what he observed in a cork. He named these chambers as cells for they resemble the rooms inhabited by the monks. Then, Stewart then focused on the parts of cell, details of its functions and differences on the prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This began the rebirth of the knowledge in biology, which remained stagnant during the Middle Ages. The fascination of these scientists has brought us to the world of the "Hobbits."

Taxonomy and systematics were the highlight of the third chapter. Here, Stewart discussed how taxonomy became a subfield of biology. Earliest accounts have suggested that Aristotle and Pliny the Elder were the first taxonomists which they classified living things as vertebrates or invertebrates. Taxonomy was later coined with Carolus Linnaeus and crediting him as the “Father of Taxonomy.” He seems to have an impression that the Linnaean system of classification is “one-of-a-heck of craziness.” To correlate math with biology, he proved that there is an existence of a series of patterns in the morphology of organisms For instance, Stewart has found relationship of the two fields through the Fibonacci sequence which was observed in flowers, the spiral patterns in pineapples, Arabidopsis, and even the coat patterns of some animals. Without taxonomy, we would be in a dilemma, wandering in the unknown dimension.

The next chapter highlights the theory of evolution. Here, Stewart discusses the journey of Charles Darwin and his challenges faced along the way leading to crediting him as the “Father of Evolution.” In 1858, he went to a voyage to Galapagos Islands and he observed that organisms express genetic variation, favoring to naturally adapt or “naturally select” to adapt to its environment. Unfortunately, those that were unable to adapt dies. Before the new knowledge shared by Darwin, the concept of evolution may be traced back before Darwin existed. Some of them were Aristotle, Desiderius Erasmus, and Jean Baptiste-Lamarck. Aristotle questioned the similarity of anatomical features of some animals. He simply answered that if these anatomical features don’t work with the rest of the body, chances are that these parts would be gone or modified to adapt with the environment. Meanwhile, Erasmus imagined that there is a possibility before the humans existed, the first mammals have risen from one “filament” capable to acquire new parts and use them for survival. Lamarck was seen as a runner–up to Darwin’s postulates. According to Lamarck, animals change from generation to generation in response with the stimulus in the environment. I have known Thomas Malthus when I took my Economics class back in high school. Thomas Malthus discussed that there is population grow geometrically and resources grow arithmetically. His paper on The Essay on the Principle is well understood aside from the field of biology. Economists follow this principle on why are we facing dwindling of food sources as the world human population grows.

Genetics came into existence when an Augustinian monk – in the name of Gregor Mendel became curious with the variation with the peas in his garden monastery. He became the pioneer in the study of genetics and he brought the light in the inexplicit of the blending inheritance. Sadly all of his works were neglected and used only as a reference in studying peas. However, in the 20th century, this was accepted when the DNA came into existence. This became the emergence of a wonderful relationship of the two fields by building a bridge linking biology and statistics.

When genetics was widely accepted in the early 1900s, scientists were fascinated with Mendel’s studies and found out the molecule deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. The emergence of the DNA has astonished scientists to develop and think what a DNA structure looks like. Prominent scientists Watson and Crick have observed that these molecules are fixed in a double–helix model. Watson and Crick were both given a Nobel Prize in 1962 for their discovery. Chargaff observed that the structures were only to be found that guanine and cytosine as well as of thymine and adenine are paired together. Again, geometry was again observed in the discovery of this wonder molecule.

The next chapters focused on the mathematical applications of biology. In the 20^th century, the first X-ray was first used; Alan Turing, father of computer science, has cracked the Enigma Code of Germany during the World War II which led to the defeat of the Axis powers; discovery of the virus; and the Human Genome Project in the 1990s.

Lastly, the main highlight of the book is the sixth revolution – mathematics. In this chapter, he stresses that the marriage of mathematics and biology could let us analyze the complexity of the biological systems through the mathematical concepts. This marriage would now bring a wider horizon for those people under these fields. In this world, change in inevitable and knowledge is gained every second. Forming an alliance or partnership will gain understanding and learning on how to settle the differences that continue to scar this world.

The book itself was written in a light mood which was intended for different readers. It was an eye-opener in such the realization of “mathematics is everywhere” is discussed. His writing style reminds me of Rick Riordan or Suzanne Collins. I like mathematics and seeing that biology can coexist with math sparks my interest for the both of them. I also like he blended history (once again) in discussing the concepts. I think the world would be in a dull situation if math cannot coexist with biology and vice versa. For biology students like me, I was fascinated by this work. Mathematics is the "Queen of Sciences" and every queen needs a king, which biology takes the whole responsibility. Carpe diem!