Abstract
This dissertation explores minimalist, lattice-based models inspired by biological solids like tissues and active microtubule gels. A common theme among these systems is that they generate internal stresses causing the system to be active and prestressed. The physics of such systems is far from equilibrium. These systems often have no constitutive relation relating stress to strain, making their study using classical elasticity theory, which has no rigorous way of incorporating prestress or residual stress, difficult. The focus of this dissertation is to study minimalist mechanistic models to capture the elastic behavior of these active solids. These studies should provide the groundwork