Why Size Matters : From Bacteria to Blue Whales / John Tyler Bonner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bonner, John Tyler, author.

Series:

Princeton science library ; Volume 142.

Princeton Science Library ; Volume 142

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Body size.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (177 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2024]

Summary:

<p>John Tyler Bonner, one of our most distinguished and creativebiologists, here offers a completely new perspective on the role ofsize in biology. In his hallmark friendly style, he explores theuniversal impact of being the right size. By examining storiesranging from Alice in Wonderland to Gulliver's Travels, he showsthat humans have always been fascinated by things big and small.Why then does size always reside on the fringes of science andnever on the center stage? Why do biologists and others ponder sizeonly when studying something else-running speed, life span, ormetabolism? <em>Why Size Matters</em>, a pioneering book of bigideas in a compact size, gives size its due by presenting aprofound yet lucid overview of what we know about its role in theliving world. Bonner argues that size really does matter-that it isthe supreme and universal determinant of what any organism can beand do. For example, because tiny creatures are subject primarilyto forces of cohesion and larger beasts to gravity, a fly caneasily walk up a wall, something we humans cannot even begin toimagine doing. Bonner introduces us to size through the giants anddwarfs of human, animal, and plant history and then exploresquestions including the physics of size as it affects biology, theevolution of size over geological time, and the role of size in thefunction and longevity of living things. As this elegantly writtenbook shows, size affects life in its every aspect. It is auniversal frame from which nothing escapes.</p>.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Preface

1. Introduction

2. The Human View of Size

3. The Physics of Size

4. The Evolution of Size

5. Size and the Division of Labor

6. Size and Time

7. Envoi

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-691-25442-7

OCLC:

1409030322