John Tyler Bonner, one of our most distinguished and creative
biologists, here offers a completely new perspective on the role of
size in biology. In his hallmark friendly style, he explores the
universal impact of being the right size. By examining stories
ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Gulliver's Travels, he shows
that humans have always been fascinated by things big and small.
Why then does size always reside on the fringes of science and
never on the center stage? Why do biologists and others ponder size
only when studying something else--running speed, life span, or
metabolism?
"Why Size Matters," a pioneering book of big ideas in a compact
size, gives size its due by presenting a profound yet lucid
overview of what we know about its role in the living world. Bonner
argues that size really does matter--that it is the supreme and
universal determinant of what any organism can be and do. For
example, because tiny creatures are subject primarily to forces of
cohesion and larger beasts to gravity, a fly can easily walk up a
wall, something we humans cannot even begin to imagine doing.
Bonner introduces us to size through the giants and dwarfs of
human, animal, and plant history and then explores questions
including the physics of size as it affects biology, the evolution
of size over geological time, and the role of size in the function
and longevity of living things.
As this elegantly written book shows, size affects life in its
every aspect. It is a universal frame from which nothing
escapes.
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