(P/B) MATHEMATICS OF LIFE

Παρουσίαση

A new partnership of biologists and mathematicians is picking apart the hidden complexity of animals and plants to throw fresh light on the behaviour of entire organisms, how they interact, and how changes in biological diversity affect the planet's ecological balance. Mathematics offers new and sometimes startling perspectives on evolution and how patterns of inheritance and population work out over time-scales ranging from millions to hundreds of years - as well as what's going on to change us right now.Ian Stewart, in characteristically clear and entertaining fashion, explores these and a whole range of pertinent issues, including how far genes control behaviour and the nature of life itself. He shows how far mathematicians and biologists are succeeding in tackling some of the most difficult scientific problems the human race has ever confronted and where their research is currently taking us. (From the publisher)

Περιεχόμενα

Preface
1 Mathematics and Biology
2 Creatures Small and Smaller
3 Long List of Life
4 Florally Finding Fibonacci
5 The Origin of Species
6 In a Monastery Garden
7 The Molecule of Life
8 The Book of Life
9 Taxonomist, Taxonomist, Spare that Tree
10 Virus from the Fourth Dimension
11 Hidden Wiring
12 Knots and Folds
13 Spots and Stripes
14 Lizard Games
15 Networking Opportunities
16 The Paradox of the Plankton
17 What is Life?
18 Is Anybody Out There?
19 The Sixth Revolution
Notes
Acknowledgements
Index