Growth and Replication of Living Organisms: General Law of Growth and Replication and the Unity of Biochemical and Physical Mechanisms. Third Revised Edition

The book continues studies of growth mechanisms by the same author. Results of earlier research have been published in books and scientific journals. Growth is considered as a phenomenon governed by the unity of physical and biochemical growth mechanisms. The findings relate and connect numerous aspects of growth and replication, which previously were considered to be unrelated fragments, into a single phenomenon governed by a general law of Nature, introduced in this book. It was discovered that the answer to the growth puzzle resides both in the physical and biochemical realms. Geometrical characteristics of an organism uniquely define the distribution of nutritional resources between maintenance needs and biomass synthesis, through the growth ratio parameter, which monotonically decreases during growth. In turn, the fraction of nutritional resources diverted towards biomass synthesis defines the amount of synthesized biomass, and through this, the composition of biochemical reactions. Thus, during growth, combined changes in an organism's geometry and related changes of distribution of influx of nutrients influence the composition of biochemical reactions in such a way that organisms progress through the whole growth cycle. In addition, the book significantly advances the subject of population growth. It introduces new advanced formulas which take into account numerous factors affecting growth of populations. In particular, it was explained why J-curve and S-curve are so characteristic for population growth. The material is well presented. Any person interested in the subject and familiar with the basics of physics and biology will understand the introduced concepts and the whole content, which is much facilitated by numerous graphical illustrations and numerical examples.