Section outline

      • Algebra gives us practice in moving from a problem to its solution;
      • Geometry helps us to understand the way living organisms are organised in space;
      • Functions describe the way information is generated in any system;
      • Vectors describe position and movement in a system;
      • Differentiation is what tells a bacterium how to follow the smell of food;
      • Integration is the most basic operation of Nature: building large changes from many small contributions;

      • Mechanics describes the way in which a system changes its state over time;
      • Rotation is the strange kind of motion which keeps you upright on your bicycle;
      • Energy is the basic currency which any living system needs to survive;
      • Thermodynamics is the study of how energy flows in a system;
      • Waves are the way many systems move information efficiently from one place to another;
      • Electromagnetic forces store the energy to build and drive any living system.
      • Quantum theory describes how physical systems interact to produce Life.
      • Relativity theory describes the nature of the world within which Life processes occur.