Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Truth and beauty in physics and biology

Physicists and biologists have different conceptions of beauty. A better appreciation of these differences may bring the disciplines closer and help develop a more integrated view of life.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Zeki, S., Romaya, J. P., Benincasa, D. M. T. & Atiyah, M. F. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 8, 68 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Breitenbach, A. Eur. J. Phil. 23, 955–977 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Feynman, R. P. The Messenger Lectures on “The Character of Physical Law” (Cornell Univ., 1964).

  4. Gell-Mann, M. Beauty, truth and … physics? TED http://go.nature.com/3gNoGsu (2007).

  5. Dirac, P. Proc. R. Soc. 59, 122–129 (1939).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bernal, J. The Social Function of Science (George Routledge & Sons, 1939).

  7. Darwin, C. On the Origin of Species (John Murray, 1859).

  8. Nurse, P. What is Life? Understand Biology in Five Steps (David Fickling Books, 2020).

  9. Sacks, O. Gratitude (Picador, 2015).

  10. Mulas, R. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.01128 (2020).

  11. Turing, A. M. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 237, 37–72 (1952).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kondo, S. & Takashi, M. Science 329, 1616–1620 (2010).

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  13. Surridge, C. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1452 (2004).

  14. Maini, P. & Othmer, H. (eds) Mathematical Models for Biological Pattern Formation (Springer, 2012).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ben D. MacArthur.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

MacArthur, B.D. Truth and beauty in physics and biology. Nat. Phys. 17, 149–151 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-01132-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-01132-9

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing