Abstract

In the beginning… {insert favorite deity here} created the universe, and with it life started with tiny microscopic organisms. It soon transpired that locomotion in general, and swimming in particular, was a good idea. So these microorganisms evolved tails, which they moved around to propel themselves in their fluid environments. These tails are what Biologists call “cilia and flagella”, made up of microtubules and motor proteins, but to the logical eye of the mathematician these are fascinating, nonlinear structures which are subject to large-amplitude deformations and stochastic periodic actuation. We ask the question, how can one use the wisdom of mathematics, to better appreciate the wisdom of Nature?