Recycled: A Geometric Symmetry at the Heart of Biology
October 28th, 2006 | No Comments »(Originally written on Saturday, July 8th, 2006)
(I will recycle thoughts as they occur to me to be of particular significance / GCH)
If one can gather in this simple concept of light interaction with the retina of the eye one sees that the fundamental principle involved is that this biological structure evolved to conform to an exact geometrical symmetry. Moreover, this geometrical symmetry overlays the characteristically indefinite structure characteristic of biology and, specifically, of this biological organ. A precise physical principle seems the basis of the biological realm to which evolution conforms!
(I have noted over and over that the admixture of the two sizes of retinal receptors, i.e., the cones and rods, forming the retina are in the ratio of the visible band (1.8:1 or 700-400 nm) and the apposition of one size receptor to the other (i.e., a cone to a rod) defines exact midband. This occurs on the retina at an angle of 7-8 degrees where midband wavelengths are refracted by the structure of the eye.)
The specification of such a geometric center, from which other factors such as wavelength are referenced, explains the color constancy of vision and provides the fixed ‘fulcrum’ necessary to explain Edwin Land’s color vision experiments.
Thus the refraction of light within the eye combined with this geometric principle defines a wavelength of 550 nanometers! What deeper meaning might this finding have? Might considerations of geometrical symmetry be propagated further on via the pathways conducting visual information to the brain and perhaps lead to new explanations for brain function?
I have quoted the enigmatic thought of Einstein that “All is geometry”….???
GCH
