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Scientific American Library Series #7
On Size and Life
Considers the role of shape and size in natural selection, looks at growth, biological structure, and locomotion, and discusses the effect of scale on living organisms
255 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 28, 2020
On Size and Life casts a wide net with some (relatively) simple mathematical tools to explain many of the ways that size plays a role in everything from flying and swimming techniques to the arch in the spine to bone thickness to turbulence in the blood stream. We're first taught about log-log plots, which gives us a convenient way to put the parameters of animals across the full size spectrum on graph paper and analyse power law relations (called allometric laws) between them. Next comes dimensional analysis, yielding useful unitless parameters like the Reynolds number that allow us to make generalized conclusions about animals on many length scales. Finally, the engineer who co-wrote the book threw a good deal of diagrams and math into the book to explain some of the observed behaviour.
Once you get past the textbook style presentation, this is a really cool book that answers deep questions you may never have known you had about biological systems. Why do tiny bacteria use flagella or cilia to move around instead of swimming like a fish? How can a flea jump 100 times its own body length (but no more)? What's the mathematical reason why some birds choose to stop flying for a more terrestial lifestyle? Answers to these questions and more are found within!
Once you get past the textbook style presentation, this is a really cool book that answers deep questions you may never have known you had about biological systems. Why do tiny bacteria use flagella or cilia to move around instead of swimming like a fish? How can a flea jump 100 times its own body length (but no more)? What's the mathematical reason why some birds choose to stop flying for a more terrestial lifestyle? Answers to these questions and more are found within!
February 11, 2023
Absorbing and straightforward, this exquisitely illustrated book provides a thorough understanding of the complexities of size and proportion.
On size and life discusses why size imposes specific constraints on shape (shape conditioning size as well), why certain designs are physically impossible for large organisms, and how natural selection and physics work together to eliminate the less gifted.
Using mathematical abstraction and both the photographic camera and the microscope, the authors illustrate the beautiful regularities of nature, unifying the great diversity of forms that cover the earth.
Decades old, this wonderful book is still relevant today and extremely entertaining. I absolutely recommend it!
On size and life discusses why size imposes specific constraints on shape (shape conditioning size as well), why certain designs are physically impossible for large organisms, and how natural selection and physics work together to eliminate the less gifted.
Using mathematical abstraction and both the photographic camera and the microscope, the authors illustrate the beautiful regularities of nature, unifying the great diversity of forms that cover the earth.
Decades old, this wonderful book is still relevant today and extremely entertaining. I absolutely recommend it!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews