B I G ! (but not too big...)

Who could believe an ant in theory?
A giraffe in blueprint?
Ten thousand doctors of what's possible
Could reason half the jungle out of being.

 - John Ciardi

 click on this cover to read the comic in Tumblr. 

Click HERE to download the printable/foldable version

This is how biologist Stephan Jay Gould's classic essay "Shape and Size" starts.  The diversity of creatures on the planet astounding, their sizes andd improbable but totally natural shapes even moreso.

In this new zine Don't Fear the King: The story of surface to volume ratio and the size of shape of animals contributed by Adrian Pijoan to SSC we get an education on how the basic physics and physiology of life (i.e. gravity, breathing, you know, the basics) fundamentally determines the possibilities of form of life on earth and gives us an appreciation for how evolution fashions organisms to adapt to environments.

Adrian gives an excellent introduction to basic principles, leading us from jello, through intestines, all the way to giant beetles and King Kong (yes, all that is possible).

Stephen Wainwright and his wonderful book Axis and Circumference, which just as well could be subtitled "why living things are tubes."  For those of you interested in this general topic of biomechanics, I also recommend the many accessible books by Steve Vogel.



 

 Thanks for this zine, Adrian! Check out his other comics on things like Roots and the Fibonacci Series too.