The Secret to Life's Enigma

              What is mathematics to you? Do you get butterflies in your tummy everytime you encounter this? Does this thing make your heart have premature ventricular contractions or in other words, skip a beat? But perhaps when you hear mathematics, you go like “meh, that again?!”? Or whenever you get low grades in math subjects you just say “Nah. I love math but it does not feel the same way for me. Paasa ra na sya.” If you said “yes” to the second and third sentences, then probably you are an alien (just kidding kiddo).  But if you agreed with me in the latter sentences, then dude, welcome to the club! 

            Biology and mathematics seem to me like oil and water. If these two elements were animate, they would never have a common point; they would always be like asymptotes… infinitely trying, but never really reaching. Well, biology and mathematics is my sweet and sour thing. :)

            In a book entitled The Mathematics of Life, Ian Stewart (the author) tries to build a strong connection between mathematics and biology. And I tell you, he is really good at it. He starts of by stating the five revolutions in biology: (1) the microscope, (2) the system of classification, (3) evolution, (4) genetics and (5) the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). But he has his 6^th revolution. That is, mathematics.  You might wonder why mathematics came only sixth when in other fields of science, mathematics is mostly the foundation. This, my dear, is the essence of this book.  

            The microscope, which is the 1^st revolution, made us see what our naked eyes cannot see. It gave us a torch in a pitch-black place, and opened our minds to an invisible world. The system of classification, developed by Carl Linnaeus as recorded in his book, Systema Natural, eradicated confusions in naming organisms.  Imagine if taxonomy was not invented, what we think we are both thinking is not really the thing we are actually thinking. Tsk tsk tsk. Genetics, on the other hand, has been developed from mathematical patterns observed by Gregor Mendel in his babies: the green peas. Genetics gives us ideas on what your future child would look like and a whole lot of other INTERESTING things, such as the jaw-dropping Human Genome Project. I once read somewhere that knowing the whole genetic code of the human species is like having a manual on human beings. Amazing, isn’t it?   Furthermore, the structure of DNA was patented by Francis Crick and James Watson. And lastly, the sixth revolution would be mathematics. Why? It is because math unites all the other five revolutions, yielding another interdisciplinary in science, that is, biomathematics. Biomathematics helps biologists in creating solid support to studies, and most especially to provide better comprehension.

            The book also contains more discussions on the coordination of mathematics with biology, such as the Fibonacci explanation on petal patterns. He, the author, debunks this explanation by elaborating the association of biochemistry and mechanics that had resulted to these petal patterns. Chaotic population dynamics, Hodgkin-Huxley equation for axons, Alan Turing’s Reaction-diffusion from his observations on animal spots and stripes were also tackled on the book.

            The author also favors characterization over the concept of species by using the multidimensional clusters with common properties that can be supported statistically. Furthermore, biomathematics is very useful on predicting new types of viruses and their structure by applying the concept of geometry in more than three dimensions.

            The Knot Theory was also hugely discussed in the book. This theory provides a simplified explanation on DNA synthesis, which is a very complicated molecular process. The Knot Theory also serves as a good representation for other studies that involved DNA, such as the one on site-specific recombination in DNA by Nicholas Cozzarelli (1985).  The complex network of wires occurring between the retina and visual cortex could also be explained by the role of mathematical map and its coordination with hallucinogenic drugs. These theories and more aspects on mathematical biology were deeply discussed in the book. I suggest you to give the book a chance. You’ll see, it will surely be a time well spent. :)

            Indeed, reading this book was more of an entertainment than a burden to me. I like the author’s style of writing. He is gentle and does not impose his opinions too strongly like how Reuben Hersh did in the What is Mathematics, Really?. Furthermore, since the book was published only in 2011, this book is updated and would really give you helpful, new insights on how the current world of biology is.   Personally, I am not a fan of mathematics but I am really into biology. Having mathematics as a big part in biology at first seemed to me like being in a graveyard…a place enveloped with death and greyness. But with this work of Ian Stewart, mathematics became more alive and colorful. From its old grey pigment of indifference, math now shows a majestic rainbow-like display of possibilities and innovations. In his conclusions, he said: “A model that is as complex as the process or thing it represents is likely to be too complex to be useful.” Hence, to make life as light as a breeze, we must, on the counterpart, make the things that comprise it as simple as possible. Mathematics translates life, and biology makes sense of it. Life is a simple thing only made complicated by our own doings. And perhaps, simplicity is the secret to life’s enigma.    Are you with me?