Understanding these physical constraints allows scientists to predict evolutionary pathways and design biomimetic technologies.

One of the most compelling aspects of Amundson’s analysis is his rehabilitation of the embryo. In the mid-20th century, the "Modern Synthesis" of evolutionary biology reduced the organism to a passive vessel for genes. The physics of the body—the way cells fold, the way tissues strain against one another, the fluid dynamics of blood—was ignored in favor of population genetics.

The lipid bilayer is a liquid crystal. Amundson uses fluid mechanics (Navier-Stokes simplifications) and elasticity theory to describe how cells bend, bleb, and fuse. Students search for the "Amundson PDF" specifically for his diagrams of membrane undulations—diagrams that are often plagiarized (poorly) across the internet.