…how many stages has life? English Renaissance writers and painters took to the task of finding and enshrining an answer. Those who found three followed the authority of Aristotle, equating the stages of life with morning, midday, and evening. Four had a natural analog in temperate zones cultures, in the progression of the seasons from spring to winter. Five mirrored the number of acts in Shakespearean drama…
—Tyler VolkMetapatterns
Chapter 7
Life Cycles
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
—William Shakespeare
The concept of life cycles in the biological sciences defines “life” as an entity capable of eating, growing, transforming itself, and responding to external stimuli. The term “life cycle” has been ...
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