Theoretical physics is the search for compact and compelling mathematical descriptions of the world around us. This is an ambitious, and extraordinarily successful, activity. We can predict what is seen when we look deep into the atomic nucleus and deep into the farthest reaches of space. But the phenomena of life have largely evaded the powerful predictive umbrella of theoretical physics.

In recent years we have seen glimpses of what a theoretical physics of living systems might look like. We have been able to go from general principles to the properties of particular systems, with examples ranging from developing embryos to coding and computation in the brain and the emergence of order in flocks of birds. It is especially exciting to see agreement between theory and experiment with “physics level” precision in the complex context of living organisms. I’ll give a survey of these ideas, and point to what might come in the next few years.