Elements of Biology

Tutorial 1

Name: Hardik Sharma Roll no.: N045

Course: MBA(Tech.) CE Division: I

Batch: B2 Date: 10-07-2020

Q1. Write a short note on relation between science and engineering.

Explain with examples.

The essence of science is inquiry; the essence of engineering is design. Scientific inquiry
expands the scope of human perception and understanding; engineering design expands the
scope of human plans and results. Inquiry and design are perfectly distinct as concepts, but
often interwoven in practice, whether within a field, a research program, a development team,
or a single creative mind.

Engineers use the scientific knowledge to build processes, structures and equipment. Both
engineers and scientists have sound knowledge of science, mathematics and technology, but
engineers are trained to use these principles in designing creative solutions to the challenges.
Science is about studying what is existing, engineering is about creating what never was.
Science and engineering, both complement each other, for to transform nature effectively
requires proper understanding, and to discover nature’s secrets requires instruments to modify
it in experiments.
The Bullet Train, Japan
Japan is renowned for the incredible speed and efficiency of their trains. However, with speeds
in excess of 300km/h, bullet trains presented a problem in creating huge sonic boom every time
they emerged from a tunnel. An unfortunate result of changing air pressures, this source of
noise pollution greatly disturbed local residents and placed pressure on engineers to address
the problem. This they did, and drew inspiration from a rather unlikely source: the Kingfisher.
Kingfishers are masters in travelling between the mediums of air water, with very little splash.
Just like the Kingfisher, the bullet train is equipped with a long beak-shaped nose. This
significantly reduces the amount of noise the train makes, but also uses 15 per cent less
electricity, and travels 10 per cent faster than before.

The Human Eye to the Camera

The study of human eye by biologists was used in the development of camera. The
photographic camera resembles the human eye. The shutter acts as the eye lids, iris as the
diaphragm, aperture acts as the pupil, the camera lens is similar to the eye lens and the light
sensitive film resembles the retina. In both the cases, the image formed is small and inverted.

Q2. Write a detailed note on the importance of biology.

Biology is the science that provides an in-depth, scientific understanding of how all living and
non-living organisms interact with each other. It encompasses other fields of research that are
related to the sustainability of life, including the environment, ecosystem, food quality, causes
of illnesses, the development of medicines, the study of the human body, to name a few.
The study of life has, helped in shaping the world. It has also given so many credible and
reliable answers that explain why things happen in a more scientific manner.
Here are some points on the importance of Biology:
1. Biology gives insights on the human body
by studying biology, everyone will be able to know the reasons behind the sudden
changes happening in their respective bodies. For instance, when kids unexpectedly
grow taller, and they experience changes in their physical appearances and sleeping
patterns, these mean that their bodies have started releasing hormones in preparation
for their puberty stage.

2. Answers fundamental questions about life

The importance of biology can lead to the answers of life’s fundamental questions such
as; How and where did life begin? Where do humans come from? Were they formed
according to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution? However, biology has been
consistent in explaining how life came to be despite having no strong evidence of its
claims. But its theories remain to be important as of the present day.
 3. Helps us understand and classify the world around us
Biology also tells us about plants and how they can be beneficial to human life. Biology
gives us a method to classify animals and help us understand animals. It also tells us
do's and don’ts for our planet. It gives us a thorough picture of human body and the
organisms inside us, also about the metabolism and other processes inside the human
body. Biology also tells us about the behavioural acts of humans and animals.

4. Study and conservation of environment

Biology as a science helps human life in many ways. It helps in increasing production
of food, combating diseases and also aids in protecting and conserving our
environment. The advances in the field of biology have resulted in high standard of
living in the field of food and health. Production of plants has been increased by
improving the varieties and development of high-yield and diseases resistant varieties
of plants and animals that are used as food.

5. Food and benefits

Plants are useful to human life and hence there is necessity in carrying out studies and
to also to find more benefits from them. Plants are used as food like beans, rice, wheat,
potatoes, etc; as medicine, and also for shelter. Wood is used for roofing, furniture,
plants help in air purification. We study animals as we live together with animals, to
understand their behaviour and benefits to human life. Some types of animals are also
an important source of food.

Q3. Write a note on applications of biology.

Biology tells us about our body, helping us to develop cures and treatments for many diseases.
It also tells us about the bodies of other animals and it can provide clinical treatment for farm
animals and also pets.
Biology also tells us about plants and how they can be beneficial to human life. Biology gives
us a method to classify animals and help us understand animals. It also tells us do's and don’ts
for our planet. It gives us a thorough picture of human body and the organisms inside us, also
about the metabolism and other processes inside the human body. Biology also tells us about
the behavioural acts of humans and animals.
Biology as a science helps human life in many ways. It helps in increasing production of
food, combating diseases and also aids in protecting and conserving our environment. The
advances in the field of biology have resulted in high standard of living in the field of food and
health. Production of plants has been increased by improving the varieties and development of
high-yield and diseases resistant varieties of plants and animals that are used as food.
Biology is the study of living things that are basically of two categories plants and animals.
Importance’s of plants in human life are: plants are useful to human life and hence there is
necessity in carrying out studies and to also to find more benefits from them. Plants are used
as food like beans, rice, wheat, potatoes, etc; as medicine, and also for shelter. Wood is used
for roofing, furniture, plants help in air purification. We study animals as we live together with
animals, to understand their behaviour and benefits to human life. Some types of animals are
also an important source of food.
Biology is an important area of study as it reveals the facts and has taken us where we are
today. All the other fields of study are dependent on the facts that are revealed by the studies
that are carried out in field of biology.

Q4. Explain with some examples how biological observations of 18th

century have led to major discoveries.
During the eighteenth century, Carolus Linnaeus proposed a system for naming and classifying
plants and animals which is still used today. In his book, Species plantarum, which was written
in 1753, Linnaeus described 6,000 plants, each one assigned a binomial name—genus and
species. For example, the binomial name for the wolf is Canis lupus, and for humans, Homo
sapiens. In the nineteenth century, many explorers contributed to biological science by
collecting plant and animal specimens from around the world. In 1859, Charles Darwin
published On the Origin of Species, in which he outlined the theory of evolution by means of
natural selection. This was an important discovery; it disproved the idea that organisms
generated spontaneously. Later, French chemist Louis Pasteur confirmed Darwin's findings by
the discovery of certain bacteria caused diseases. Pasteur also developed the first vaccines.

Q5. Write a note on the fundamental importance of Brownian motion

referring to the original observation of Robert Brown.
Brownian motion is the random motion of particles suspended in a fluid (a liquid or a gas)
resulting from their collision with the fast-moving molecules in the fluid.
This pattern of motion typically consists of random fluctuations in a particle's position inside a
fluid sub-domain, followed by relocation to another sub-domain. Each relocation is followed
by more fluctuations within the new closed volume. This pattern describes a fluid at thermal
equilibrium, defined by a given temperature. Within such a fluid, there exists no preferential
direction of flow (as in transport phenomena). More specifically, the fluid's overall linear and
angular momenta remain null over time. The kinetic energies of the molecular Brownian
motions, together with those of molecular rotations and vibrations, sum up to the caloric
component of a fluid's internal energy (the Equipartition theorem).
This motion is named after the botanist Robert Brown, who first described the phenomenon in
1827, while looking through a microscope at pollen of the plant Clarkia pulchella immersed in
water. In 1905, almost eighty years later, theoretical physicist Albert Einstein published a paper
where he modelled the motion of the pollen as being moved by individual water molecules,
making one of his first major scientific contributions. This explanation of Brownian motion
served as convincing evidence that atoms and molecules exist and was further verified
experimentally by Jean Perrin in 1908.
Q6. Write a note on the origin of thermodynamics referring to the
original observation of Julius Mayer.
Julius Robert Mayer (25 November 1814 – 20 March 1878) was a German physician, chemist
and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics. He is best known for enunciating in
1841 one of the original statements of the conservation of energy or what is now known as one
of the first versions of the first law of thermodynamics, namely that "energy can be neither
created nor destroyed". In 1842, Mayer described the vital chemical process now referred to as
oxidation as the primary source of energy for any living creature. His achievements were
overlooked and priority for the discovery of the mechanical equivalent of heat was attributed
to James Joule in the following year. He also proposed that plants convert light into chemical
energy.
In 1841 he settled in Heilbronn, was elected as Oberamtswundarzt (Chief Wound Doctor). In
Heilbronn he met his friend the mathematics and physics teacher Carl Wilhelm Baur again,
whom he had first met in Paris, with whom he had correspondence from 1841 to 1844, and
who taught him mathematics and mechanics. Mayer suspected that the heat production of the
human body decreases at high temperatures, since his physiological observations in the tropics
revealed an unusually bright red color of venous blood, which he attributed to a reduced
“burning” of oxygen.
During 1841, Mayer completed his first scientific paper titled “On the Quantitative and
Qualitative Determination of Forces”, in which he postulated a “conservation law of force”
(meaning energy). As it contained fundamental physical errors, it was initially not published.
Next, Mayer turned his enthusiasm towards motion. He presented a value in numerical terms
for the mechanical equivalent of heat. He also was the first person to describe the vital chemical
process now referred to as oxidation as the primary source of energy for any living creature.