A hunting feline differs completely in form and function from a tree deeply rooted in the ground. A human differs greatly from a bacterium or a zebra. Yet, despite the dazzling variety, the living world is based on a set of unified physical principles that shape the form and behavior of every creature within it.
In this book, Raghuveer Parthasarathy explains how four fundamental concepts —self-organization, regulatory circuits, predictable randomness, and scale-invariant growth— govern the machinery of life from microscopic molecules to giant elephants. He also describes how biophysics reveals the mechanisms behind various phenomena, such as why our limbs form in the right places and not somewhere else, or why humans need lungs while ants do not. Additionally, he explores the potential for scientific advancements that would enable us to apply potentially lifesaving yet controversial technologies to living organisms, such as gene editing, the growth of individual organs, and ecosystem engineering.
It all started very simply, with dozens of original watercolors and sketches by the author; it is an exhilarating journey into the new science of biophysics, which is literally transforming our understanding of life on Earth.
