Between the
Lines
A Book Review on Ian Stewart’s “The Mathematics of
Life”
Patterns, cables, networks, some
theories and postulates, and many more, are only some things that are developed
in the study of Mathematics. It is not limited, however, to Math. We live in a
world where everything is connected to one another like a domino effect. Some
are obviously connected, others we really have to assess. So, there must be an
application, no matter how small it is, that would connect those things to
something in the world other than just being able to live for the day. In The Mathematics of Life, Ian Stewart
mainly connects the gap between Mathematics and Science. He was basically
saying that Math and Biology are not in good terms and that, before, people
would rather take up Biology because it is an escape from Math. I think I would
agree to that considering some of my subjects last semester. Biology, back
then, was all reading and understanding --- not much on the computations. But
then again, it was only my first semester. This book explains how Mathematics
has helped Science in some little ways and we just might be beginning to see
and comprehend its versatility in our everyday lives.
At first, I thought the book would
be purely Mathematics. Most of the chapters’ content is about Science but I
guess that is just how the author intended to express his point --- to present
scientific views and facts --- after all it is also about life, in all its
aspects. The discussion is very descriptive and is providing a broad background
on the subject of life for the reader to visualize and comprehend effectively
the relationship of Mathematics and Science, regardless of their preference. I
like how he explained Science, specifically scientific processes and history,
and ending the chapter with a paragraph that would relate everything he has
discussed in the chapter to Mathematics. This factual storyline, which seems to
be the author’s style of writing, is rather entertaining.
"A combination of mathematical modelling and biochemistry" led
to new revelations or discoveries on some specific parts of a cell which may be
of great importance to develop innovations in biology. I mean, it’s not like we
ponder every single thing and assess if it is related to Math or something all
the time. Mathematics, together with other fields, exists around us. We don't
give so much thought about their relationship but utilizing them just might be
a main factor that is shaping the world and our minds to lead new discoveries
and uncover the hidden around us.
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