"Ecology’s Big, Hot Idea"

Increasingly, scientists are applying more math and physics-like tools to biology (nice for me since I think I’m good at math and I shall study biology). The idea of “metabolic ecology” is on the drawing board right now. It’s an attempt to derive equations and constants that can reliably predict things such as body size, temperature, metabolic rate and how they relate to eachother. On one hand, it is a waste of brain power and discovery to constantly be looking at different parts of a whole and not utilizing underlying patterns, but like the critics say, if the ideas require too much patching up to be workable, then they aren’t of much use. We understand biology in good detail and “metabolic ecology” might put too much emphasis on rules. Take your pick: fallacy of everything-is-the-same-whole or fallacy of every-thing-is-a-different-kind.