The purpose of this paper is to review and contrast the Lagrangian and Eulerian formulations of inelasticity as they apply to metal plasticity and growth of biological tissues. In contrast with the Lagrangian formulation of inelasticity, the Eulerian formulation is unaffected by arbitrary choices of the reference configuration, an intermediate configuration, a total deformation measure and an inelastic deformation measure. Although the Eulerian formulation for growth of biological tissues includes a rate of mass supply and can be used to understand the mechanics of growth, it does not yet model essential mechanobiological processes that control growth. Much research is needed before this theory can help design medical treatments for growth related disease. This article is part of the theme issue 'Rivlin's legacy in continuum mechanics and applied mathematics'.