On Growth and Form
by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson
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Paperback (01 June, 1992)
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Editorial Review

First published in 1917, On Growth and Form was at once revolutionary and conservative. Scottish embryologist D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860-1948) grew up in the newly cast shadow of Darwinism, and he took issue with some of the orthodoxies of the day--not because they were necessarily wrong, he said, but because they violated the spirit of Occam's razor, in which simple explanations are preferable to complex ones. In the case of such subjects as the growth of eggs, skeletons, and crystals, Thompson cited mathematical authority: these were matters of "economy and transformation," and they could be explained by laws governing surface tension and the like. (He doubtless would have enjoyed the study of fractals, which came after his time.) In On Growth and Form, he examines such matters as the curve of frequency or bell curve (which explains variations in height among 10-year-old schoolboys, the florets of a daisy, the distribution of darts on a cork board, the thickness of stripes along a zebra's flanks, the shape of mountain ranges and sand dunes) and spirals (which turn up everywhere in nature you look: in the curve of a seashell, the swirl of water boiling in a saucepan, the sweep of faraway nebulae, the twist of a strand of DNA, the turns of the labyrinth in which the legendary Minotaur lived out its days). The result is an astonishingly varied book that repays skimming and close reading alike. English biologist Sir Peter Medawar called Thompson's tome "beyond comparison the finest work of literature in all the annals of science that have been recorded in the English tongue." --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (5)

On Growth and Form
On Growth and Form written by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson is a classic and should be found on the bookshelf of any well read person.

This book sets our mind up for an education in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and physiology with form and function.Language skills are needed for reading this book as the author uses the original Greek in places for explaination and emphsis.Aristotle comes to mind and German is used for emphsis.

If you want to get the full extent of the text and you are not up to speed on the subjects mentioned or you'll find it hard to read this book.This could be read by a junior or senior in high school. But, I think it would be more appropriate for college.

This book is the study of organic form using methods found in the physical sciences. This book is a challenge to read, but it is very logical and straight forward.

A misunderstood classic
A great book, to be read by all biophysicists-to-be.

The modern follow-up to this book is Thom's Structural Stability, which shows that the logical conclusion of Thompson's ideas is both exciting and dubious. We probably can't just 'look' at stuff, we need to make (useful) predictions or the theory won't last. The interested reader should also pick up, if briefly, Mandelbrot's Fractal Geometry of Nature.

Two notes of interest. 1) Morphology has indeed proven successful in proving physical theory: in the aggregation of dust particals, measuring the gross fractal dimension allows you to predict the type of noise involved in creating it. 2) The logarithmic spiral, together with the fibonnaci sequence and the golden ratio, show up quite surprisingly in synchronized chaotic loops.

PS: to these I can add three more. 3) Shipman and Newell at the University of Arizona have shown that the Fibonnaci sequence in phylotaxis arises from buckling of pressurized skin (e.g. in a cactus or young sunflower) 4) Goldstein, also at UA, has shown that a broad variety of cave patterns (from ripples on the wall to bumps on stalagtites to wonderful crystaline snowflakes) all arise as a result of a single cause, the diffusion-reaction equation. 5) the late Winfree (also at UA!) has quite conclusively shown that heart beating and defribrillation are non-equilibrium sprial patterns similar to the BZ reaction.

The whole business of form has been taken up by the Sante Fe institute, see Kauffman's At Home in the Universe. Anyone who likes this book would inevitably also love Wilson's Insect Societies.

So, hopefully you understand that Thompson's book is not an island, but a visionary precursor of active research.

a quantitatiave approach to biology
This book is a classic, no two ways about it.It is really the first credible attempt to start taking a quantitative approach to biology, and despite the developments of the past century (molecular biology, etc), the problems raised in this book are just as pressing as they were when thompson wrote it.Anyone working in cell biology nowadays will immediately see applications of the ideas in this book, for example to organelle morphogenesis.The genius and erudition of thompson shine through on every page, making the book inspiring to read. ... Read more

Isbn: 0486671356
Subjects:  1. Growth    2. Life Sciences - Biology - General    3. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    4. Morphology (Animals)    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics   

The Geometry of Art and Life
by Matila Costiescu Ghyka
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 January, 1978)
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Reviews (5)

A good book focused on Phi
I'm not a mathematician, but I still found this book to be readable. It is largely focused on the Golden Section (Phi) and related proportions, including Fibonacci numbers, sqrt(Phi), etc. The explanation of how to derive this number is clearly explained in the first few chapters. The following chapters show how Phi is related to most things we see everyday, including architecture, 5-point animals, crystal latticies, art, and music. This book is quite old, so the illustrations seem rather antiquated. Nonetheless, the quantity and clarity of these illustrations are impressive.

The writing was clear, but the concepts were occasionally difficult to understand. The author made mention of "gnomic" growth a number of times without really giving a single clear definition. Also, I felt that a number of the tie-ins between Phi and architecture were a bit of a stretch. Most likely you could overlay any graph over a blueprint and see any proportion you'd want to see. At any rate, this book has gotten me interested in this subject, and I will be looking for more books on Phi.

Accessible and Fascinating
This excellent book, written in 1946, still remains in print, and for good reason. Ghyka shows mathematically that objects in nature are not randomly formed, but all have regularity and harmony.
Beginning with the concepts of ratio and proportion in the plane, the Golden Section, and then to regular polygons and geometric shapes in 3 dimensions, Ghyka demonstrates these patterns with simple algebra and geometry, and plenty of diagrams.
He explains the logarithmic spiral and its role in harmonious growth in nature, with photographs and diagrams. He shows how ancient builders used the Golden Section in their architecture and in their art. This book is a wonderful weaving of philosophy, mathematicsand science, covering a lot of ground, and is very well-written. It is nothing like trying to wade through H.M.S. Coxeter! This book would be a fine companionto Cook's "The Curves of Life," fleshing out the concepts presented there.
This little book is a gem -- there is a tremendous amount of information packed into its 174 pages, yet it is understandable to the layperson. And it is aptly titled. It truly is about "The Geometry of Art and Life."
If you are one of those observant persons who is looking for a more detailed understanding of the underlying patterns in nature, art and architecture,and you don't mind spending a little time going through some simple algebra and geometry, this is the book for you.

Aesthetics you can sink your mind into
Why are beautiful works of art beautiful?What makes a striking piece of architecture striking?Why is it we find such pleasure in admiring a flower, or a tree?Rather than addressing these questions from a subjective standpoint, Ghyka analyzes the mathematical geometry of classical art, architecture, and biology and attempts to find a common thread to bind them all together.It's a wonderful mix of mathematics and history with a touch of philosophy to season it well. The math is simple, the sort of high-school geometry we've all had and forgotten, but it's critical for the understanding of his argument. If you hate math, you're probably not going to enjoy this book, but if you love art, and are willing to entertain an opinion as to _why_ you love it, I'd recommend suffering through it anyway - I've certainly developed a deeper appreciation of art and aesthetics in reading this book, and think it could be very valuable to serious (or not so serious) art lovers and artists. ... Read more

Isbn: 0486235424
Sales Rank: 32094
Subjects:  1. Aesthetics    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Criticism    4. General    5. Proportion    6. Proportion (Art)   

The Divine Proportion
by H. E. Huntley
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 June, 1970)
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Reviews (9)

Not for the designer...
I bought this book together with "Geometry of Design" thinking they where similar... but this is just a mathematical book ... sorry for those who like maths... but I was expecting something more for the designer.

Maybe for those who are not designers, but nubered-reladioned this is a great book... but that's not my case.

Phi and the Divine Proportion
Phi - the Greek alphbet that denotes the golden ratio.It is a fixed mathematical ratio that has been associated with aesthetically pleasing shapes, which is what Huntley's book, The Divine Proportion,attempts to describe. This ratio permeates various geometrical structures and has been linked to pleasing shapes (as identified through independent surveys).

Unfortunately, my mathematical faculties have been unexercised since I left university, and the book stretches my knowledge to its limits.If I were reading this ten years earlier, I might have found it easier.But nonetheless, this tome is for those who are comfortable with mathematical expressions, and not for an unprepared reader.

But still Huntley has made a commendable effort to bring together various disciplines - of music, psychology, geometry, algebra - and ties everything together with the Golden Ratio.His arguments are refreshing - its one of the first times I have heard anyone argue for the beauty of mathematics.

Now, if I only had the time to revise my algebra and work on those exercises!

A Cogent Reference of Beauty
Anyone who rates this book on "fact" or "truth" will be very disappointed. Both are subjective. The objective of Huntley is to demonstrate a natural pattern in nature that exists regardless of theory, ego, and "truth." That is beauty and this book is well worth the read. There is a design. ... Read more

Isbn: 0486222543
Sales Rank: 18420
Subjects:  1. General    2. Geometry    3. Golden section    4. Mathematics    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Mathematics / General   

Fascinating Fibonaccis: Mystery and Magic in Numbers
by Garland, Trudi Hammel Garland
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 July, 1987)
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Reviews (3)

Good Book For Kids
A good intro book on Fibinocci numbers, but not whatI was looking for. This book is geared toward middle school students.

A good starter
This book is a good starter.It provides a good introduction on what is a Fibonacci Series, the analysis of such and where Fibanacci numbers occur in nature and our lives.It even has a decient introduction on Lucas Numbers.However, it is just that, a good starter which I would whole heartedly recommend for a high school student that is just about to discover how wonderful math subjects can be. To get a more in depth presentation, one will have to refer to a receintly published paper on the subject or refer to a graduate text.

Discover More About Fibonaccis
As an undergrad. math major student, I've encountered Fibonacci numbers so many times all over text books... However, this book gives me a lot more insights of this amazing numbers interestingly. This book's especially good at exploring fibonacci numbers in nature as well as its mathematicalaspects. ... Read more

Isbn: 0866513434
Sales Rank: 206078
Subjects:  1. Education    2. Fibonacci numbers    3. Mathematics    4. Number Theory   

The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature
by Philip Ball
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Paperback (01 August, 2001)
list price: $19.95
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Editorial Review

Seashells are often spirals, just like water going down the drain. There must be a connection, right? Our intuition scoffs at such a notion, but maybe they are related, writes Nature editor Philip Ball in The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature. This deep, beautiful exploration of the recurring patterns that we find both in the living and inanimate worlds will change how you think about everything from evolution to earthquakes. Not by any means a simple book, it is still completely engaging; even the occasional forays into mathematics and the abstractions of hydrodynamics are endurable, tucked as they are between Ball's bright prose and his hundreds of carefully selected illustrations.

When speaking of the living world, Ball seeks to go beyond the theory of natural selection, which explains why we see certain characteristics (height, shape, camouflage), to find mechanisms that can explain how such characteristics come to be. Again, this is no easy task, but for those willing to follow his discussion, the elegance of nature is laid out in zebras' stripes, ivy leaves, and butterfly wings. Moving on to find the same patterns at work in the clouds of Jupiter and the cracks in the San Andreas fault give strength to the feeling that there are self-composing structures that guide everything in the universe toward a kind of order. The Self-Made Tapestry is a challenging look at the biggest issues in science, and well worth a thorough read. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A really great book.
This is one of the best books i have read. Clear, in depth, and intelligent. Academic and also well written!
I highly recommend it.

Sad
I hope some publisher will do the world a favor and keep this book in print. It's a classic that belongs on the shelf right next to D'Arcy Thompson's "On Growth and Form." This might seem strange for me to say, but if I were to design an educational curriculum for people learning my profession (oncology), this book would be mandatory. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in morphogenesis. If anyone knows where I can buy 10 or 20 unused copies, I'd appreciate hearing from you (wmshea@earthlink.net).

The Self-Made Tapestry:Pattern Formation in Nature
The Self-Made Tapestry:Pattern Formation in Nature written by Philip Ball gives us some answers to long-standing questions as to why there are patterns in designs in nature that reoccur in seemly unrelated objects.

Biologists are used to the idea that form follows function.The shape and structure of a biological entity whether it is a protein molecule, an organism, or the wind blowing ripples in a sand dune all have a purpose and a function.These are things I was curious about when I was studying in college, things that caugh my attention as interrelated but how and why.Of course, things in my life became more complex, but these questions still always seemed to weigh in the back of my mind... A tree with limbs and a lightening bolt look simular and so too roots and nerves.

Well, "The Self-Made Tapestry" explains the why and how of why these simularities do exist.This book explains why these are not just coincidences.As nature weaves it tapestry through self-organization it employs no master plan it just applies simple local interactions between the component parts.The component parts inpart a common self-organization to energy conservation allowing for typically univeral patterns.

What I liked about this book is the author has put complex theories into non-technical language along with adequate illustrations show the reader how these patterns come about.

If you looking for a book on explains some of life's and nature's mysteries this is the book for you as it is highly readable and you begin to understand why things are as they are. The book reads like a textbook , the chapters build upon one another making for an accumilation of knowledge bases on a solid foundation from the start.

This book is a solid 4 stars giving the reader a adequate knowledge of the hows and whys of nature.This book only has very minor flaws, but that is all.I would highly recommend this book for you home science library as it would make a worthwhile addition. ... Read more

Isbn: 0198502435
Subjects:  1. Developmental Biology    2. Essays    3. General    4. Life Sciences - Biology - Developmental Biology    5. Life Sciences - Biology - General    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Systematics (Biology)    10. Earth Sciences    11. Mathematics for scientists & engineers    12. Science: General Issues   

Life's Other Secret: The New Mathematics of the Living World
by IanStewart
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (13 January, 1999)
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Reviews (7)

Math Rules
Is life regulated and given structure by genetics alone? Or do physical and chemical constraints have a significant bearing on an organism's morphology? Inspired by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's classic, On Growth and Form, mathematician Ian Stewart argues convincingly that, the current popular view of the primacy of the genome notwithstanding, the major phenotypical influences, including those of the genes themselves, are highly constrained by physics and chemistry, both as endogenous and exogenous processes. What's more, such processes are manifestations of underlying mathematical "rules". (Stewart is, of course, neither the first nor the last to champion the "life is math" viewpoint. Other strange bedfellows in this general tradition range from William Paley, the eighteenth century theologian who conceived a mechanical universe so finely crafted and tuned that there must be a (divine) "watchmaker", to Stephen Wolfram, whose recent vanity tome, A New Kind of Science, posits, at its core, cellular automata as life's computing mechanism.)

Life's Other Secret is a beautifully written book that teaches about symmetry and symmetry breaking and oscillators and other important facets of evolution's geometry. It might seem odd that a mathematician takes on a subject more apparently appropriate to biology or zoology. And, indeed, life does often imitate art: In Collapse of Chaos, Stewart and Jack Cohen provide an example destructive professional encroachment: Two ice cream venders at the beach increasingly move in on each other's territory, so that, in the end, neither the bank accounts of the venders nor the gustatory desires of their customers are best served. Yet, in a more complete sense, the idea of bringing the weight of mathematics to bear on diverse disciplines is firmly in the tradition of "the unity of all knowledge". This concept (which Edward O. Wilson identifies as "consilience") held scholarly sway prior to the fairly recent "symmetry breaking" among the sciences: the ultra-specialization desired for engineering and for academic dissertations. A return to the renaissance approach is truly a breath of fresh air.

Life's Other Secret is also a curiously non-technical book that should present few challenges to those with math anxiety. This is, in fact, a conscious part of Stewart's message. In the spirit of the late physicist Richard Feynman, Stewart promotes qualitative math (as opposed to the more common idea of quantitative math, which Life's Other Secret studiously avoids) not as "vague generalities", but as "features that are conceptually deeper than mere numbers."

To me, one characteristic of good writing (both fiction and nonfiction) is that the reader is led to extrapolate and go off on personal tangents. Here are two possible directions for speculation. The positing of "rules-based evolution" raises the further question of whether these rules are artifactual emergences out of evolutionary dynamics, or whether they were set down by a Great Designer, ere the worlds began to be. And, secondly, how, specifically, do biological entities implement the math? That is, how do organisms "compute"? What are the "algorithms" of life?

My only criticism is the lack of appendices where concepts such as spherical harmonics, field functions, and other technical matters could be discussed in more detail without tromping on the narrative. But this is, to me, a minor carp. In Life's Other Secret, Stewart is clearly a master expositor at the top of his form.

Mathematics, Patterns & Biology
Life's Other Secret
The New Mathematics of the Living World
by Ian Stewart

The secret that this book explains is that although we have come to believe that genes are the basis of all life they are only one part of it.Genes are the building blocks but there may be underlying mathematical principals that govern how the blocks are put together.When you consider that mathematics is the study of structure and pattern you can start to see how this relates to the biological world.Nature displays many example of patterns.But why?Are the organisms following some mathematical law?Take for example the spiral pattern in the seeds of a sun flower.This pattern, in fact, follows the Fibonacci sequence - one spiraling clockwise and the other counter clockwise.A Fibonacci sequence (named after the guy who discovered it), goes like this:

1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144...

Each number is a sum of the previous two- 3 + 8 = 13.

So, these spirals are quite beautiful, but why spirals?Why not concentric circles, or squares or random patterns?What biologists have found, is that, this pattern is the most efficient way of packing as many seeds as possible into the head of one sun flower.So how do you get from a sequence of numbers to a spiral?This involves the "golden number" or "golden angle" of 137.5 degrees and the ratio of one Fibonacci number to it's neighbour.This led me to wonder about spirals.Why are spirals important in Celtic art?Why do we see spirals when we hallucinate?(Just like in the cartoons when the mouse hits the cat on the head...).

The sun flower seed patterns is just one small example of the many topics covered in this fascinating and extensively illustrated book.There lots and lots of ideas to exercise your brain - why areleopard spots different from jaguar spots?How do fish and birds all turn at once? Do crowds of people make patterns?This book may stimulate your mind - open your mind to thinking about very interesting things - although at times it's frustrating, leaving you feeling that you missed something along the way.

Answers: yes; satisfactory level of understanding: no
I think 4 or 5 stars is really over-rating this book...

In short, if you"are" a mathematician to any degree, and are more than just alayperson looking for some neat facts to through out during cocktailconversation, then skip this.There are some answers, yes; but you won'tfind any of the depth of understanding that, in my opinion, goes withenjoying mathematics.

There were a number of times I was reading achapter, lost track of what the point was, and looked at the top of thepage for the chapter name for help.A number of times I found myselfunable to get the chapters' contents to jive with their titles and intros. Overall, it felt like a mish-mosh of topics, questions, answers,...

Thepart about "Turing's equations" was especially frustrating.Overand over they were described in the context of looking for understandingbehind animals' stripes, spots, etc.First the equations seemed to providesome answers; later they were not proven to have a physical basis; laterstill biologists are said to have re-embraced them.But through all this,not ONE iota of description (never mind -- gasp -- an equation) of whatTuring's equations are !

The one part of the book I *did* enjoy was thebeginning third or so which, for me, added continuity to my previousdisjointed understanding of how life could evolve from inorganic materials. And yes, he makes his point that "Genes are great, but there's mathin there too!".But the point does *not* require that much argument;after a while, you're saying, "OK, OK, you've made your point. Can youfocus on depth and continuity a bit more please."

At 2/3-rds throughthe book, I skimmed the rest looking for something to make me want tocontinue reading it. I stopped reading it at that point. ... Read more

Isbn: 0471296511
Sales Rank: 394541
Subjects:  1. Applied    2. Life Sciences - Biology - General    3. Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics    4. Mathematics    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Science / General   

Nature's Numbers: The Unreal Reality of Mathematics (Science Masters Series)
by Ian Stewart
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 October, 1997)
list price: $16.00
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Reviews (7)

An interesting pop science book
I first read the translated (Chinese) version of this book. I liked it a lot that I decided to buy the English version for my son, who is a 6-grader but has developed keen interest in numbers and patterns. The author brings up many interesting topics and let the "hidden rules" develop and unwind. The writing is with good pace and clarity. I recommend it.

A mathematician with his head on straight
Nature's Numbers is a valuable resource and, I think, a new doorway of scientific philosophy. (I think some reviewers didn't like this because they expected more, but as I said, its a doorway to a field, and by no means a complete study in itself) From the very beginning, it is promised to the reader that a new pair of glasses, a mathematicians, will be provided to look at your life in the universe a bit differently.Ian Stewart attempts to grasp the mathematical hypostasis of the natural macrocosm.Objectively, simplicity still likely underlies all external phenomena, however a outward branching tree of complexity translates this core into our manifested world, appearing fairly simple again as the laws which govern the cosmos.However, in Stewart's universe, mere laws and equations do not suffice.He strives for a new field of mathematics that is intertwined with natural science.It is obvious, as he shows from the science of flowers, dripping water, etc., that math determines the observed phenomena of science.Even in apparently haphazard systems, the source remains as deterministic principles by nonlinear dynamics.(This is what you should know as chaos theory)And the shibboleth of "the butterfly effect" is an epitome of the need to comprehend the governing mathematics of systems.Take biological adaption and evolution for example.Some biologists believe that DNA and genetics is the sole shaper of organisms.This does not appear to be fully adequate alone, because then we would in turn need to explain why biology followed symmetries and patterns.But as he notes on pp. 137 "Maybe evolution started with the mathematical patterns that occurred naturally, and fine-tuned them by natural selection."By opening our horizons of our attempts to comprehend the universe fully in our quest for absolute knowledge of nature's numbers, the final sentence in Stewarts work admirably states the scientist's philosophy with the same type of mere simplicity that Mother Nature holds at her core, "We may never get there.But it will be fun trying."Gotta love that.

God does not play dice, nor vice versa..
Pros:Many interesting philosophical observations; lucid language.

Cons: Not enough details on the math; not enough pictures / diagrams that would support verbal descriptions of examples from nature; in some cases, insufficient explanation of the ideas (e.g. What is qualitative theory, and how can it be an advance rather than a retreat?).

Notable Quotes:

"There is much beauty in nature's clues, and we can all recognize it without any mathematical training."

"Patterns possess utility as well as beauty."

"One of the strongest features of the relationship between mathematic and the 'real world,' but also one of the strongest, is that good mathematics, whatever its source, turns out to be useful."[begs the question WHY?]

".. goal-oriented research can deliver only predictable results."

".. the dreamers and the mavericks must be allowed some free rein, too."[on the tension between pure and applied research]

A Question: There are many instances where the book talks about nature doing this or that.For instance, consider the following discussion of 'broken symmetry': "Nature, too, seems to be attracted to symmetry, for many of the most striking patterns in the natural world are symmetric.And nature also seems to be dissatisfied with too much symmetry, for nearly all the symmetric patterns in nature are less symmetric than the causes that give rise to them."HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR NATURE TO BEHAVE IN A CONSISTENT MANNER?IS THERE A CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE TO NATURE?HOW IS NATURE ABLE TO CONTROL EVERYTHING TO MAKE THESE CHOICES AND IMPLEMENT THEM?In scientific literature statements like this are frequently made, without any scientific basis.I don't know why, and I hope people can discern truly scientific from academic speculation.

A difference of opinion: I do not think the nature is "mass produced." Everything in it seems very special to me. ... Read more

Isbn: 0465072747
Sales Rank: 531671
Subjects:  1. General    2. Mathematics    3. Popular works    4. Science/Mathematics   

How the Leopard Changed Its Spots : The Evolution of Complexity
by Brian Goodwin
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 March, 2001)
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Reviews (6)

Neither Goodwin nor Dembski understands evolution
This book is the source of a widely circulated quote by William Dembski which proves beyond a doubt that neither Goodwin nor Dembski has the faintest idea of how evolution works.

Goodwin describes how Sol Spiegelman put some viral RNA in a test tube, along with a "replicase" molecule whose job is to duplicate RNA.He heated the RNA for a while to force the replicase to make copies of the RNA, then took a sample, purified it and used it to innoculate a second test tube.After the RNA in that test tube had been copied, he took a sample, purified it and used it to innoculate a third test tube.This continued for twenty some "generations", at which time the RNA was reduced to a small fraction of its original length and was duplicating much faster than the original because there was so much less to duplicate.

First Goodwin, then Dembski and now the whole Intelligent Design universe think this somehow shows that evolution is impossible.What it actually shows is that if RNA or DNA has no function, it won't be missed if it disappears - and 90 percent of the RNA had no function in the test tube environment.The only parts that were doing something were the parts that the replicase used to find the start and end points for its copying function.

This is made abundantly clear in the original paper when Spiegelman states that after the fourth transfer, the RNA became incapable of infecting a cell.That means that in real life, the "experiment" would have stopped right there because the shortened, defective RNA would not have been passed on.

Unfortunately, first Goodwin and then Dembski completely misunderstood this experiment and now Dembski has spread the misunderstanding to the entire religious community.They both owe the world an apology.

Well I've changed my spots!
The main theme is about how DNA doesn't need to provide information in every detail to produce an organism. Chemical, physical and mathematical forces also play a significant part in the production of an organism. The book is also about how natural selection is not the only process at work for evolutionary advancement. I totally agree with the conclusion, and he's sure changed my thoughts on the subject, but it was a challenge to read it all because of the way it is written. It could have been more fun.

For the others that read this book and still don't get "how the leopard changed its spots" - its a metaphor. Leopards aren't supposed to change their spots. The leopard symbolises scientists like Richard Dawkins and others who are fixated with genetic evolution and DNA. After reading this book, will they change their ways? Its not about leopards!

It does have loads of fascinating examples, with all the relevant diagrams & figures to make the point clear, so he's done a good job assembling all of those. From ant colonies & the BZ reaction, to evolution of the eye & fibrillation in the human heart. An example: it is the concentration of calcium that causes the single celled organism (Acetabularia) to grow to a particular shape, NOT the DNA. He also explains why a sunflower seed head forms a spiral, and it is all to do with mathematics, nothing to do with sunflower DNA.

The trouble with this book is that the author uses the word "dynamic" waaaay too much. It quickly becomes very annoying. He is obsessed with that word. Open the book at random, and you will see what I am talking about. Aside from that, it is very tedious to read. Instead of making the ideas easily understood, it seems Brian Goodwin goes out of his way to make it complicated.

I'd really like to give it 3.5 stars, because at the end of it I was glad I read it, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone, because there are better books out there (you might like to see my other reviews on popular science books). Remember that you can only read a limited number of books in your lifetime, and this one is not perfect. Buy it ONLY if you're specifically interested in this field of science OR you've read all the truly good books out there and want to lower your standards a bit and still keep reading popular science!

Dynamics and evolution
This is a great book. Readers interested in understanding the rules that shape morphogenesis over evolution should read it. Goodwin provides convincing evidence for fundamental dynamic rules involved in thegeneration of form. Together with natural selection, these mechanisms offera more complete view of how evolution works. ... Read more

Isbn: 0691088098
Sales Rank: 421455
Subjects:  1. Animal Growth And Development    2. Evolution (Biology)    3. Life Sciences - Evolution    4. Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics    5. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    6. Morphology    7. Organic Evolution    8. Philosophy & Social Aspects    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Self-organizing systems    12. Biochemistry    13. Cognitive Science    14. History of Science and Medicine, Philosophy of Science    15. Science / Biology   

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
by Steven Johnson
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (19 September, 2001)
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Editorial Review

An individual ant, like an individual neuron, is just about as dumb as can be. Connect enough of them together properly, though, and you get spontaneous intelligence. Web pundit Steven Johnson explains what we know about this phenomenon with a rare lucidity in Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. Starting with the weird behavior of the semi-colonial organisms we call slime molds, Johnson details the development of increasingly complex and familiar behavior among simple components: cells, insects, and software developers all find their place in greater schemes.

Most game players, alas, live on something close to day-trader time, at least when they're in the middle of a game--thinking more about their next move than their next meal, and usually blissfully oblivious to the ten- or twenty-year trajectory of software development. No one wants to play with a toy that's going to be fun after a few decades of tinkering--the toys have to be engaging now, or kids will find other toys.

Johnson has a knack for explaining complicated and counterintuitive ideas cleverly without stealing the scene. Though we're far from fully understanding how complex behavior manifests from simple units and rules, our awareness that such emergence is possible is guiding research across disciplines. Readers unfamiliar with the sciences of complexity will find Emergence an excellent starting point, while those who were chaotic before it was cool will appreciate its updates and wider scope. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (68)

AN INTRODUCTION TO EMERGENT PHENONEMA
This book deals with a very important topic - how new organizations arisein the various contexts of biology, cognitive science, sociology, and computer science. The author, a science writer, is clearly enthusiastic about his subject, and he provides several vivid examples of emergence phenomena, including the spontaneous development of patterns in ant colonies, the growth of cities, the development of the World Wide Web, and emergence of mind from the ten to one hundred neurons of the human brain.

General books of this sort, it seems to me, fall into three classes. The first - which includes Steven Johnson's "Emergence" - comprise books written by skillful writers who have little basic scientific knowledge and are therefore uncomfortably dependent on the particular experts whom they choose to interview. The second class is written by scientists who are familiar with the many details of their area, but lack the ability to write. These writers often produce books that are informative but tedious for the general reader. The third class, of which there are few examples, are by scientists who also know how to write.

It seems to me unfair to criticize Johnson for not being a scientist, as other reviewers of this book have done. Johnson does not claim to be a scientist and the reader cannot expect him to have mastered all aspects of a wide and complicated subject like emergence. Indeed, I have my own list of important names in the area of which he seems to be unaware, including Chris Langton (artificial life), John Conway (game of life), Donald Hebb (cell assemblies in the brain), Manfred Eigen (hypercycles in proto-biology,Lev Landau (polaron), Warren McCulloch and Warren Pitts (logical theory of the brain), Thomas Kuhn (scientific revolutions), William James (nature of religious conversion), the list goes on.

If you know nothing about emergence but would like to experience the excitement of researchers in this emerging area,you will enjoy and profit from reading this well written book. Be warned, however, that the subject is much larger that Steven Johnson yet imagines.

Alwyn Scott
http://personal.riverusers.com/~rover/

Great for starting to understand this field
Emergence is a field that is trying to come to grips with how new behavior emerges out of smaller units. For example, there is no gene for a hive of bees or colony of ants, but the behavior of the nest emerges from them. Some people are using cellular automata as a means of explaining higher order behavior (like Wolfram in A New Kind of Science).

The author makes a point that there are 3 main camps of scientific study.
1 - the study of simple systems - 2 or 3 variables, like electromagnetism, or celestial mechanics.
2 - the study of stochastic systems - few million to few billion variables, like actuarial sciences and genetics.
3 - the study of disorganized complexity. Systems in the middle between 3 and a few million, where the second order characteristics - how they interact, is of primary concern.

Deduction and induction work for the first 2 camps, but for the 3rd, the interactions cause actions and reactions which are what scientists politely call counter intuitive, meaning your first thought is wtf!!!??? Or, in other words, it behaves quite differently from what your instincts and (so called) common sense would tell you.

There are 5 basic principles for developing a system (or simulation of one) which can express emergent behavior.
1 - More is different. You get a very different behavior of the system when certain thresholds are reached.
2 - Ignorance is useful. Ants communicate with a vocabulary of around 20 words/ideas.
3 - Encourage random encounters. Much of the behavior of an ant colony comes from them just bumping into each other (or external things like food, or my foot).
4 - Look for patterns in the signs. Even with the limited vocabulary of ants, they can also express things based on the decay in the pheromones they deposit.
5 - Pay attention to your neighbors. Also described as "local information can lead to global wisdom."

The economist Jane Jacobs had been studying things like this for years, and has been demonized by a number of loud, vocal economists: they want to believe in some centralized controlling force (like tax rate or central bank lending rate), control that force, and you control the development of your economic system. People reading her books tend to think she worships sidewalks, instead, she values the communication that can only happen on sidewalks. You can't say "hi" to your neighbors if you are each zipping past each other on the freeway.

One can experiment with emergent behavior with some software tools. The author explains a few, of which you are most likely to have experience with SimCity.

Most memorable quote:
[Marvin] Minsksy scanned the screens for a few seconds, then asked Resnick what he was working on. "I explained that I was experimenting with some self-organizing systems. Minsky looked at the screen for a while, then said, 'but those creatures aren't self organizing. They're just moving toward the green food.'"

"Minksy had assumed that the green blobs were pieces of food placed throughout the turtles' world. In fact the green blobs were created by the turtles themselves. But Minsky didn't see it that way. Instead of seeing creatures organizing themselves, he saw the creatures organized around pieces of food..."

Minsky had fallen for the myth of the ant queen: the assumption that collective behaviot implied some kind of centralized authority - in this case the food was dictating the behavior of the slime mold cells. Minsky assumed that you could predict where the clusters would form by looking at where the food was placed when the simulation began. But there wasn't any food. Nor was there anything dictating that clusters should form in specific locations. The slime molds were self organizing, albeit with parameters that Resnick had initially designed.

"Minsky has thought more, and more deeply, about self organization and decentralized systems than almost anyone else," Resnick writes. "When I explained the rules underlying the slime mold program to him, he understood immediately what was happening. But his initial assumption was revealing. The fact that even Marvin Minsky had this reaction is an indicator of the powerful attraction of centralized explanations.
(pp 167-168)

One of the enduring myths we have is that of the Ant Queen. The myth supposes that there is some central planning done in an ant colony. Instead, the queen exists only to pop eggs out. Male ants have such short lives, that in most species of ants, they have no mouths to eat with - they don't live long enough to get hungry. The production of warriors and workers is done by pheromones in the colony. Where to gather food is performed by random acts of bumping into things. There is no ant which tells another to go lift that bale and tote that barge. It also appears that our intelligence is a by-product of the neural interactions of our brains.

The main difference between chaos theory and emergent behavior theory lies in a couple important differences. A chaotic system has a number of determinable feedback loops, all of which are (usually critically) dependant upon the starting conditions. Emergent behavior has more to do with feedback loops causing totally different behavior, and when some threshhold (usually population) is passed, the nature of the system drastically changes.

Sound and Fury...

Is emergence a true phenomonon outside of personal experience or a cognitive adaptation solely within personal experience?

This work is a finely told tale of the phenomenon of emergent behavior. How things develop to form something complex not readily apparent from its constituent parts or beginnings. Steven Johnson is thorough, appealing, and clear in his writing. I found this work interesting and engaging. I recommend it to all.

My one criticism of this book is a personal one, not one of error on the author's part. I found this work to be too personality driven. It felt to me to be too much about individual characters and less about ideas. In fact, I think if the actual ideas were distilled from this work the amount would be less than the book suggests. Even with that said, I still think this is a valuable and insightful work. ... Read more

Isbn: 068486875X
Subjects:  1. Cybernetics    2. General    3. Information Theory    4. Intellect    5. Internet - General    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Self-organizing systems    9. Sociology - Urban    10. Swarm intelligence    11. System Theory    12. Systems engineering    13. Computers / Information Theory   

The Algorithmic Beauty of Sea Shells (Virtual Laboratory)
by Hans Meinhardt
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 December, 1995)
list price: $49.95
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Reviews (2)

Sea Shell Math
This book describes, using a computer, The geometry involved in the building of seashells and in particular the surface features.It shows the how and why of surface decorations found on several species of Mollusks.This is probably the only book to treat this subject and do so extensively expertly and comprahensively.

very thought provoking and visually stimulating
I came across this book at the Rhode Island School of Design library. As an artist I found it surprising that what I had considered to be just a beautiful pattern was actually an imprint of the pressure and movement ofthe waves upon the seashell. This insight was very thought provoking forme. Perhaps to biologists this is a normal and natural thing - but for anartist this kind of scientific approach with beautifully illustrated pagesis a deeply moving experience. This book will definitely make you thinktwice about the objects that you take for granted - whether it's visuallyor scientifically. I strongly recommend this book for those who likeintellectual challenges and who like to look at the world with fresh neweyes. ... Read more

Isbn: 0387578420
Sales Rank: 1446632
Subjects:  1. Computer Simulation    2. Discrete Mathematics    3. Life Sciences - Biology - General    4. Mollusca    5. Pattern formation (Biology)    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Seashells    9. Shells   

Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People
by Steven Vogel
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 May, 1998)
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Editorial Review

"Life is what biology's all about. Technology is something else altogether. Or so I believed before I got into a kind of biology that's about technology as well as life," begins biomechanics expert Steven Vogel in the preface to Cats' Paws and Catapults. Vogel examines the "mechanical worlds of nature and people" in such chapters as "The Stiff and the Soft" and "The Matter of Magnitude." Lots of line-drawing illustrations help readers understand the examples used to answer questions of animal and machine efficiency, design and repair. Vogel clearly loves the puzzles of biology--why, for instance, do daffodil stems bend at only one precise spot? This book is filled with intriguing answers to such hidden questions, and curious readers will eagerly dive into Vogel's investigations of whether nature or human design is superior and why the two technologies have diverged so much. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Interesting.
This book contains numerous examples of design, from an engineering perspective. The theme is on comparing the design of evolution with that of technological invention. Although the book is almost precisely 50% natural and 50% artificial, you get the impression that the author is slightly biased in favour of technology. He acknowledges they are different: nature abhors using straight lines, engineers love them; nature has not been able to employ metals, yet they are commonly used in our constructions.

I for one would never be critical (as this guy sometimes is) of nature by saying that it never utilises metals or whatever. It doesn't need to - it isn't required. To favour an I-beam over a tree limb is foolish and misguided. Is a piece of metal or lump of concrete alive? Certainly not. The astonishing feature of nature is that it manages to evolve these things, that are inherently living entities, which can grow and replicate themselves with no awareness or foresight!
So the trouble with this book is that it doesn't address the fact that a tree does way more than just support itself: a tree is not just a vertical structure; it is an extremely complex photosynthesis machine. It is self-powered AND self-generating. It would take a tremendous amount of technology to create a very minuscule and seemingly simple creature such as an amoeba, let alone an extremely complex multicellular organism such as a hummingbird - currently, it is totally impossible. Yet nature does it for free and that is some accomplishment.

There are many obvious observations in the book, and in places it can be a little dull. I really don't think there are many people who will thoroughly enjoy this book. Either you'll be the type of person who prefers natural evolution, or you'll prefer technological invention, and so either way half of the book will not be very appealing.

A similar book is called "Diatoms to Dinosaurs". I think that book is a much more interesting read - it is predominantly concerned with nature, not with technology, and some of the examples are just so much more alluring/enticing/intriguing.

a book you must read
A wonderful book. Steven Vogel has the skill to to grasp attention of the reader and to mantain it over the whole book. And he can explain the way many very complex mechanical items work or many phisical law in a very clear way and with great rigour.Really, a wonderful book everyone must read.

A captivating look at the natural and the synthetic
What a pleasurable and stimulating book! Vogel is one of those rare authors who can communicate the essence of a complex technical field without either dumbing it down or making it so complex as to beunapproachable to the lay reader. "Cat's Paws and Catapults" isjust full of elegant, clear text and beautiful pen-and-ink illustrationsthat make the difficult clear.

Vogel begins by comparing nature'ssolutions to problems of structure, propulsion and so forth with thecreations of man, illustrating the differences and the similarities in howthe two evolve. He differs with those philosophers who have argued thatwithin nature might be found the ideal solutions to the problems ofengineering and design, and gives convincing examples to support his case.He works though issues in structure, transport, proplsion and so on showingthe differnt ways in which nature and man arrive at solutions, and argueswhy each may or may not be optimal.

One chapter is devoted to thequestion of scale, and how it influences design. For example, the housesbuilt by humans are, despite all their nails and other fasteners, mainlyheld together by gravity. Things like nails and mortar serve mainly to keepbits from sliding off each other. That's not possible when buildingsomething the size of a bacterium; at that scale, gravity is essentiallynegligible.

Scale is similarly important in building a flying machine.Aircraft and insects fly in very different environments. Airplanes must flyfast to overcome gravity, whereas insects fly slowly, in an environmentwhere drag is the main force to be overcome.

And that's just one smallsection. There are chapters on surfaces and angles, on soft versus hard, onpulling versus pushing, on the problem of making copies and many othertopics as well.

As I read "Cat's Paws" I found myself making atremendous number of penciled notes in the margin, arguing with some pointsand agreeing with others. It's not that there was that much I disagreedwith, but rather that the book engaged me to the point that I felt I was ina dialogue with the author. It's that good.

If you're the kind of personwho can'tresist taking something apart to see what makes it work, buythis book. If you're fascinated by the workings of the natural world, buythis book. If you're just looking for a really good example of non-fictionwriting in the best traditions of John McPhee, Tracy Kidder or JeremyBernstein, buy this book. You will not be disappointed. ... Read more

Isbn: 0393046419
Subjects:  1. Biomechanics    2. General    3. Human engineering    4. Life Sciences - Anatomy & Physiology    5. Mechanics    6. Reference    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Technology    10. Physiology    11. Science: General Issues   

Life's Devices
by Steven Vogel
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 December, 1988)
list price: $45.00 -- our price: $40.39
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Reviews (2)

Explains "Animal Design" in a Remarkably Readable Style
One of the most readable biology books I've ever come across. While it can easily be used for an undergraduate course in animal physiology and evolution, Vogel's text is humorous, (obscure references, funny quotes, andpuns abound, adding to the text rather than detracting from it), but alsocovers a wide range of topics with clear explainations. The chapters arewell structured and the table of contents suggests some of the moreinteresting highlights: why an ant might bite but can't hit, reinflatingsquid, plumbing the common features of the pipes within organisms, etc.While there is a strong emphasis on fluids in biology, (the author'sspecialty), it's an amazingly readable, well-written, and informative bookon the entire subject of the physical constraints on animals for theinterested laymen or undergrad. Table of contents: Constraints &Oppertunities, A Variety of Variables, Size & Shape, DimensionsGradiaents & Summations, Gases & Liquids, Viscosity & Flow,Pressure & Flow, Diffussion vs Convection, A Matter of Materials,Arranging Structures, Insinuations About Curves, Systems of Support,Mechanics of Mobility, Staying Put & Getting Away, Energy &Afterthoughts. Also has an extensive and well-prepared bibliography, agreat jumping off point for further adventures in the field.

An interesting journey to where Biology and Physics meet!
This is an excellent book for those that are interested in learning more about how life developed on this planet. It engages the reader with a variety of examples, stimulating thought as how complexs life is and how it's bound to our physycal universe. I recommend it! ... Read more

Isbn: 0691024189
Sales Rank: 490892
Subjects:  1. Biomechanics    2. Biophysics    3. Human engineering    4. Life Sciences - Biology - General    5. Life Sciences - Biophysics    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Biological Sciences    9. Science / Biology   

Life in Moving Fluids
by Steven Vogel
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 April, 1996)
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Reviews (5)

Great book to start with!
This is a great book to start with when getting in to the field of bio-fluid dynamics. Not only does it explain the basic concepts of fluid dynamics, but it also illustrates a large number of cases where the life different plants and animals are affected by the fluids of their environment and their interior.

An authoritative and very readable introduction to the field
"Life in Moving Fluids" is a well-written and entertaining, as well as technically accurate, introduction to the behavior of fluids. It explains many of the concepts of fluid dynamics in terms of biological examples, and is my first choice of book to recommend to biologists who want to understand the design and behavior of a wide range of plants and animals that live, as most do, in moving air or water -- our two most common fluids.

That would be quite enough distinction for a book, but the utility of Vogel's book goes farther: it is one of the best introductions to the subject of fluid dynamics for those interested in physics, such as the nature of lift and drag, or the design of buildings or wind tunnels (sometimes the same thing). It also is helpfulin physical chemistry where diffusion and convection must be understood -- to say nothing of how fluids move through the pipes and junctures of our equipment.

I was inspired to write this review because I had just recommended the book to a colleague who was designing a wind tunnel to work at Reynolds numbers in the 10,000 range and whose previous sources were from aerodynamicists, whose designs are generally not appropriate at this scale. If you don't know what a Reynolds number is or why it is interesting, this book has the best explanation I've seen. It does not assume that you remember much, it teaches what you need as it goes along.

Many are the times I've recommended "Life in Moving Fluids" to students and co-workers, and in each case, I have been warmly thanked. This review allows me to thank Dr. Vogel in a practical manner for his outstanding book. He also has a penchant for the occasional pun and keeps a light tone throughout, which makes the book suitable as pleasure reading for those who enjoy the popular science magazines, but don't mind a bit more depth.

If you work in fields where fluid dynamics counts (see the section on prairie squirrels),or just fly model planes, the book is also a handy refresher/reference work. It'll blow you away.

A good introductory text
A good introduction to aspects of fluid dynamics among living creaturessuch as plants and animals. Generally the book covers the material wellwith good explanations although I found that at times the conceptsdemonstrated were very well explained and at others not so well. Some ofthese fluid dynamical ideas are quite non-intuitive and I feel that acourse covering this material really requires experiments to give thestudent a feel for the movements inherent in fluids and the various forceswhich act to produce the types of drag or filter feeding etc. Naturallysuch a course could use this book as a theoretical introduction along withmaybe some sort of lab manual accompanying it. I did feel that it wouldhave been good to have this together in one text rather than spread overtwo or more. Having said this I must note that this book is probably notintended in this way and possibly fits into the niche left open by the gapbetween a serious student text and an introduction which can be read purelyfor interest's sake as I did. It accomplished this second task quite wellmaintaining interest even though it dealt in mechanical laws and left outmuch of the biology, which would, if not directly, have added to theexplanation offered yet, provide a link both as a source of the physics andas a means to connect the now separate streams of physics and biology,which is unfortunately nowadays always considered as completelydisconnected. Darcy Thomson would have been dismayed at this process.Nonetheless some very beautiful drawings accompany the book and providemuch needed sense of the plant and animal world. Altogether a fineintroduction. ... Read more

Isbn: 0691026165
Sales Rank: 334108
Subjects:  1. Life Sciences - Biology - General    2. Life Sciences - Biophysics    3. Science    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Biological Sciences    6. Biophysics    7. Science / Biology   

Botany for Gardeners: An Introduction and Guide
by Brian Capon
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 August, 1992)
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Reviews (8)

"Botany for Gardeners" is not for every gardener
I found this book to be helpful as a overview type coverage in botany, but it left a lot to be desired. It was not written for gardeners as the title may imply.This is a rather heavy text for the ordinary gardner, and not enough for a Botany student.I found the text to be poorly arranged, with poor chapter content.This is a text that would be good for a gardener that is really interested in learning more, but leaves a lot to be desired in some of the explanations.

Not really for gardeners
I love gardening, reading, and science, so I was very hopeful when I saw the title of this book.The title sounds very interesting.This book left me disappointed.It felt like work to read.There were interesting tidbits about plants, but they were buried in mind-numbing details.
Opening the book at random I find this quote:
"The chemical name for natural auxin, produced by plants, is indole-3-acetic acid, or IAA. Several synthetic substances (naphthaleneacetic acid, or NAA; 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, or 2,4-D, etc.), having auxin-like effects when applied to plant tissues, have been studied and are used commercially."
Fortunately, the entire book isn't written this way, but there are way too many sentences just like this one.

Terrific book for gardeners wanting to know more
As a gardener, I found this book to be a great introduction to botany.It is not a simple book, but a very well written book that takes the details of botany down to a beginner's level.

There's a lot of technical details here.It's not an easy breeze to get through it, as I'm sure a full semester's class in Botany might be.

I've heavily underlined this book and refer to it often.I hope to take a college course in Botany after plowing my way through this book.I use the term plow not because the writing is hard to read, but because so many technical details are covered.The writing pushes you along because it is so interesting.

This is a great book.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX ... Read more

Isbn: 0881922587
Sales Rank: 258879
Subjects:  1. Botany    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. General    6. Life Sciences - Botany    7. Plants - General    8. Techniques   

The Biomechanics of Insect Flight
by Robert Dudley
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (21 December, 1999)
list price: $70.00
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Reviews (1)

Great coverage, but written for specialists
This book has something of a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality.A reader who is comfortable reading research literature on insects will find an organized, thoroughly documented and well-balanced summary of current knowledge of insect flight.Unfortunately, Dudley is one of those scholars whose writing is saturated with technical jargon and complex sentences, even when simpler English could make the same point.So while the content is great, reading this work is the mental equivalent of hiking through knee-deep snow.Enthusiastic entomologists will find it worth reading: everyone else will find it hard to follow. ... Read more

Isbn: 0691044309
Sales Rank: 1101162
Subjects:  1. Biomechanics    2. Entomology    3. Flight    4. Insects    5. Life Sciences - Anatomy & Physiology    6. Life Sciences - Zoology - Entomology    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics   

The Shape of Life
by Nancy Burnett, Brad Matsen, Bradford Matsen
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 March, 2002)
list price: $19.95 -- our price: $19.95
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Reviews (3)

The recomendation wasn't that good...
I bought this book because amazon system recommend it to me when I bought "geometry of design" ... and I thought it was relationed with proportions in the animals, which is a great theme...

But this book covers the behaviours of the animals and some of their biology... great for it, but not for me.

And for those who like biology, this is a great book, nice photos on the inside... I think it only covers sea animals, but it's nice to take a look of it.It's a shame it doesn't have the "search inside this book" feature.

A fun, beautiful book
The Animal Kingdom sports roughly 35 basic body plans, or phyla, but 90 to 95 percent of all animals fall into just eight phyla. Divided into eight chapters, this companion to the PBS series describes each major phylum, and discusses what science has learned about the history of life on Earth. A few passages might be a little elementary for long-time natural history buffs, but not enough to keep me from recommending it. Also highly recommended for students and readers new to the subject.

Shape of Life
The author took this topic and made it very easy to understand and very interesting. It follows the PBS series while keeping its own voice. Loved it! Rich content and super photos! ... Read more

Isbn: 1878244396
Sales Rank: 477532
Subjects:  1. Life Sciences - Anatomy & Physiology    2. Morphology (Animals)    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Reference    6. Science   

Scaling in Biology (Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity Proceedings)
by N.M.) Santa Fe Institute (Santa Fe, James H. Brown, Geoffrey B. West
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 2000)
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Reviews (1)

A Long Overdue Book on a Critical Subject in Biology
This book is long overdue!I highly recommend it to anyone interested inissues of allometry (how characteristics of organisms change with theirsize), scaling, and how attributes of organisms influence larger scalepatterns in ecology and evolution.Scaling is probably the most importantproblem facing biology and this book is a fabulous launching point to aseries of new approaches.The book presents several chapters by several ofthe leaders in the field - and range from vascular morphology of mammals,physiology, plant physiology and ecology, biomechanics, life-history,ecology and evolutionary biology, and even conservation biology.The longintroductory chapter provides a nice introduction, history, and overview ofthe growing field. Probably the best attribute of the book is theunderlying synthesis of biology.Those interested in building linkagesbetween organismal biology, physiology, community ecology, ecology, largescale ecology, or evolutionary biology need to read this book. ... Read more

Isbn: 0195131428
Sales Rank: 491098
Subjects:  1. Biomathematics    2. Body size    3. Life Sciences - Biology - General    4. Life Sciences - Ecology    5. Morphology (Animals)    6. Physicians    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Mathematics for scientists & engineers    10. Taxonomy & systematics   

Diatoms to Dinosaurs: The Size and Scale of Living Things
by Christopher McGowan, Julian Mulock
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 September, 1994)
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Editorial Review

With a background in paleobiology, Christopher McGowan is adept at asking deceptively simple but actually very awkward questions of the "Well, we've dug up this fossil skeleton, now how on God's earth did it ever fly?" variety. McGowan looks at the way the scale and shape of animals relate to their behavior, diet, and life span. Why, in other words, tortoises live far longer than guinea pigs, but aren't nearly as much fun.

This line of argument leads to some seriously counterintuitive physics as McGowan explains how animals of different scales handle and exploit the physical constants by which they are bound. Discussions of drag, inertia, and viscosity are particularly well handled.

Especially refreshing and entertaining is McGowan's happy willingness to admit that millions of years of evolution are smarter than he is. Sometimes animals just make no sense at all. Consider Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur with a 40-foot wingspan and a long, serpentine neck. How did it get off the ground? Its neck suggests it may have been a carrion feeder. Did it climb laboriously to the peak of some vast saurian carcass and hitch a passing thermal? "This entire scenario," McGowan admits, with delicious understatement, "strikes me as fanciful."

While Diatoms to Dinosaurs is marketed very much at adults, there is an infectious enthusiasm about McGowan's writing that suggests a gifted teacher sharing sophisticated just-so stories with a spellbound class. --Simon Ings, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Intriguing.
The book is about muscles and skeletons, hearts, fluids and brains. Quite a large chunk of the book is about flight. I found the most captivating chapter was "Tiffany wings and kite strings". It is all about tiny fliers: microfilm model airplanes and microscopic flying insects. It reveals that the mechanism that insects use to fly is different to birds. After reading this, you may think twice about squishing the next harmless little insect that flies right by you. The section on drag was surprisingly very interesting.

Although it introduces familiar animals, it goes into enough detail to provide substantially new and rewarding information about these creatures, which you almost certainly won't be aware of. There are loads of great diagrams, which really make this book very enjoyable to read. The book is straightforward and I relished reading it.

A very very similar book is called "Cats' Paws and Catapults". It also contains many examples of design, although it is from an engineering perspective, and the focus is on comparing the design of evolution with that of technological invention. I think Diatoms to Dinosaurs is a much more interesting read - it is predominantly concerned with nature, not with technology. This book is simply more profound, but both books are very good.

No fireworks but comprehensive
This book covers a great many zoological issues connected with scale as succinctly as possible offering a fairly comprehensive treatment.It includes scalar descriptions in terms of physiology, intelligence, lifespan, flight and swimming (among others) and whearas the style may be staid, palaeontologists will find much to refer to in this book which is based on solid foundations rather than guesswork and opinions.A must for students, researchers and communicators on the subject.

Unlimited wonders of Life
An excellent exploration of the mysteries of living things.

We are surrounded by wonders. From the tiny phytoplankton with 7.5 micrometers in size, to the giant brachiosaurus weighing 78 tons, life manages to find its way, showing us facts that are just almost impossible to believe.

This is one of those books you can trust because is written for somebody who knows what he is writing about. Explores quite interesting subjects ranging from the movement of the wings doves and bats, to the heart rate of mice, and the naps of elephants. There are also very good illustrations in it.

Definitely, a very nice and productive reading for everybody, especially for those Lovers of Nature.

We need a wide mind to understand the wide wonders of Life. ... Read more

Isbn: 1559633042
Subjects:  1. Body size    2. Environmental Science    3. Evolution (Biology)    4. General    5. Life (Biology)    6. Life Sciences - Biology - General    7. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    8. Morphology (Animals)    9. Nature    10. Nature/Ecology    11. Organic Evolution    12. Physiology    13. Science    14. Zoology (Specific Aspects)