Second mystery

Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-07-01
Features: What patterns are hidden in the stripes on a tiger's back and the beautiful designs in butterfly wings? Are there still unknown laws of life lying deep within DNA? Are there similarities between the flocking of birds and the flow of crowds in a stadium? To these questions, the answer in this book is Yes. The life phenomena related to mathematics discussed in this book are extremely wide-ranging. The origin of life, the development of chicken wings, the emergence of the genetic code, the double helix structure of DNA, spiral shells, the patterns on pineapples, the blue spots on angel fish, the enchanting peacock tail, the charming gait of animals, and the growth of coral, and so on—all these rhythms of life are related to mathematics. Although we have now mapped the genes, we have not yet found a reasonable explanation. Life, flowing in the small universe composed of matter, must be governed by the mathematical laws of physics and chemistry. And how mathematics works may be the second mystery of life.