Seven Equations of Life

Modern biology is increasingly quantitative, but many biologists find biomathematics intimidating, believing that to understand it requires advanced mathematical training. This book argues that mathematics is about relationships, and that a small number of fundamental relationships determine the properties of living systems. Systems of great complexity arise from very simple origins through the operation of a few recurring motifs - nonlinearity, iteration, self-similarity, feedback, autocatalysis and hierarchical organization. An understanding of these underlying relationships, which does not require mastery of higher mathematics, can lead to insights into the emergent properties of complex biological systems. Biologists often claim that life is too complex, too subtle, to be reduced to systems of equations: biomathematics teaches us that life itself is an emergent property of complex systems, and that these complexities can be understood in terms of the relationships between matter, energy, and information. The most important of these can be illustrated by a study of seven representative equations.