The Shape Of Life

A Fields medalist recounts his lifelong effort to uncover the geometric shape—the Calabi-Yau manifold—that may store the hidden dimensions of our universe. Harvard geometer Shing-Tung Yau has provided a mathematical foundation for string theory, offered new insights into black holes, and mathematically demonstrated the stability of our universe. In this autobiography, Yau reflects on his improbable journey to becoming one of the world’s most distinguished mathematicians. Beginning with an impoverished childhood in China and Hong Kong, Yau takes readers through his doctoral studies at Berkeley during the height of the Vietnam War protests, his Fields Medal–winning proof of the Calabi conjecture, his return to China, and his pioneering work in geometric analysis. This new branch of geometry, which Yau built up with his friends and colleagues, has paved the way for solutions to several important and previously intransigent problems. With complicated ideas explained for a broad audience, this book offers not only insights into the life of an eminent mathematician, but also an accessible way to understand advanced and highly abstract concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics. “The remarkable story of one of the world’s most accomplished mathematicians . . . Yau’s personal journey—from escaping China as a youngster, leading a gang outside Hong Kong, becoming captivated by mathematics, to making breakthroughs that thrust him on the world stage—inspires us all with humankind’s irrepressible spirit of discovery.” —Brian Greene, New York Times–bestselling author of The Elegant Universe “An unexpectedly intimate look into a highly accomplished man, his colleagues and friends, the development of a new field of geometric analysis, and a glimpse into a truly uncommon mind.” —The Boston Globe “Engaging, eminently readable. . . . For those with a taste for elegant and largely jargon-free explanations of mathematics, The Shape of a Life promises hours of rewarding reading.” —American Scientist

Companion to the PBS series produced by Sea Studios Foundation for National Geographic Television and Film in association with KCET. Focuses on the origins and development of the animal kingdom. Includes an overview of the each episode, Q & A and an interview with featured scientists, discussion of each featured species, a guide to images listing both animals and humans involved with the series, and a section on activities and resources.

Rudolf Raff is recognized as a pioneer in evolutionary developmental biology. In their 1983 book, Embryos, Genes, and Evolution, Raff and co-author Thomas Kaufman proposed a synthesis of developmental and evolutionary biology. In The Shape of Life, Raff analyzes the rise of this new experimental discipline and lays out new research questions, hypotheses, and approaches to guide its development. Raff uses the evolution of animal body plans to exemplify the interplay between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary patterns. Animal body plans emerged half a billion years ago. Evolution within these body plans during this span of time has resulted in the tremendous diversity of living animal forms. Raff argues for an integrated approach to the study of the intertwined roles of development and evolution involving phylogenetic, comparative, and functional biology. This new synthesis will interest not only scientists working in these areas, but also paleontologists, zoologists, morphologists, molecular biologists, and geneticists.

Watson and Crick's discovery of the structure of DNA was to theoretical biology what Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity was to science this century -- allowing conceptual theories to predate experimental data in solving fundamental problems. Sarkin offers a fresh and original theory sure to extend the boundaries further, whilst not negating current evolutionary theory. Since the earliest of times, the spiral form has been observed to cross the divides of science and art, mathematics, astronomy and biology. Pythagoras, as early as 500 BC, recognised the concept of the 'Golden Proportion', described mathematically as the Fibonacci Sequence. This riveting theory, traversing biology, science and art, could only be entertained by a medical doctor, scientist and astronomer of Teddy Sarkin's calibre. In this easily readable and compelling work he proposes that the logarithmic spiral shape, ubiquitous in nature, is the template for all life. This template is carried as the helix shape of the DNA molecule from generation to generation. The mysterious secrets of the human embryo are unravelled (with clear colour illustrations) and shown to be a miraculous yet simple and understandable unwinding of the spiral template. Only when the laws governing the shape and form of an individual have been unravelled, can we begin to understand the origins of species. An understanding of the mechanisms controlling growth may shed light on the elusive secrets relating to cancer, tissue repair, regeneration and immunity. The book examines the current dogma of neo-Darwinist Modem Synthesis and points out why this paradigm does not completely explain life's evolution. An alternative view is offered, based on the degree of uncoiling of the spiral template; it suggests it is no mere coincidence that all vertebrates, from the earliest dinosaurs up to modem man, have an identical, definable body plan. This seminal work will appeal not only to scientist, biologist and artist, but to anyone yearning for answers to one of life's major mysteries. Not since Darwin's theory has so original a text been written in this field.

A groundbreaking argument for why alien life will evolve to be much like life here on Earth We are all familiar with the popular idea of strange alien life wildly different from life on earth inhabiting other planets. Maybe it's made of silicon! Maybe it has wheels! Or maybe it doesn't. In The Equations of Life, biologist Charles S. Cockell makes the forceful argument that the laws of physics narrowly constrain how life can evolve, making evolution's outcomes predictable. If we were to find on a distant planet something very much like a lady bug eating something like an aphid, we shouldn't be surprised. The forms of life are guided by a limited set of rules, and as a result, there is a narrow set of solutions to the challenges of existence. A remarkable scientific contribution breathing new life into Darwin's theory of evolution, The Equations of Life makes a radical argument about what life can -- and can't -- be.

In this intimate, engaging book, John Demos offers an illuminating portrait of how colonial Americans, from the first settlers to the postrevolutionary generation, viewed their life experiences. He also offers an invaluable inside look into the craft of a master social historian as he unearths--in sometimes unexpected places--fragments of evidence that help us probe the interior lives of people from the faraway past. The earliest settlers lived in a traditional world of natural cycles that shaped their behavior: day and night; seasonal rhythms; the lunar cycle; the life cycle itself. Indeed, so basic were these elements that "almost no one felt a need to comment on them." Yet he finds cyclical patterns--in the seasonal foods they ate, in the spike in marriages following the autumn harvest. Witchcraft cases reveal the different emotional reactions to day versus night, as accidental mishaps in the light become fearful nighttime mysteries. During the transitional world of the American Revolution, people began to see their society in newer terms but seemed unable or unwilling to come to terms with that novelty. Americans became new, Demos points out, before they fully understood what it meant. Their cyclical frame of reference was coming unmoored, giving way to a linear world view in early nineteenth-century America that is neatly captured by Kentucky doctor Daniel Drake's description of the chronography of his life. In his meditation on these three worlds, Demos brilliantly demonstrates how large historical forces are reflected in individual lives. With the imaginative insights and personable touch that we have come to expect from this fine chronicler of the human condition, "Circles and Lines" is vintage John Demos.

Describes how to unleash the individuality and uniqueness that God has bestowed, revealing how to tap into the mysteries of our makeup and potential, which will lead to a path of purpose, freedom, confidence, and fulfillment.

Shape of a Boy is a hilarious memoir of one family's travels across the world, filled with funny anecdotes from exotic locations.