Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and physics has been profitably flattered by all walks of science. Those who fail to imitate us do so at their peril. No such peril is in the cards for Lev Ginzburg of Stony Brook University and Mark Colyvan of the University of Queensland in Australia, who together wrote a free-flowing essay on the theoretical foundations of ecology. 1 This is a delightful little book, 182 pages in small format (14 × 21 cm2). I recommend it highly as a true pleasure to read.
The central question of theoretical ecology concerns the growth of populations. We may all have heard that populations grow exponentially, N(t) = N 0 exp(rt), where the rate of growth r is determined by environmental factors affecting the mortality and “power of the loins” in the population. This type of growth is...
