Book excerpt: Optimization theory is designed to find the best ways of doing things. The structures of animals, their movements, their behavior, and their life histories have all been shaped by the optimizing processes of evolution or of learning by trial and error. In this revised edition of R. McNeil Alexander's widely acclaimed Optima for Animals, we see how extraordinarily diverse branches of biology are illuminated by the powerful methods of optimization theory. The mathematics involved is explained very simply, with biology students in mind, but the book is not just for them. It is also for professionals, ranging from teachers to researchers.