Why do living things and physical phenomena take the form they do? D'Arcy Thompson's classic On Growth and Form looks at the way things grow and the shapes they take. Analysing biological processes in their mathematical and physical aspects, this historic work, first published in 1917, has also become renowned for the sheer poetry of its descriptions. A great scientist sensitive to the fascinations and beauty of the natural world tells of jumping fleas and slipper limpets; of buds and seeds; of bees' cells and rain drops; of the potter's thumb and the spider's web; of a film of soap and a bubble of oil; of a splash of a pebble in a pond. D'Arcy Thompson's writing, hailed as 'good literature as well as good science; a discourse on science as though it were a humanity', is now made available for a wider readership, with a foreword by one of today's great populisers of science, explaining the importance of the work for a new generation of readers.
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D'Arcy Thompson's classic On Growth and Form looks at the way things grow and the shapes they take. Analysing biological processes in their mathematical and physical aspects, this historic work, first published in 1917, has also become renowned for the sheer poetry of its descriptions. It is now available for a wider readership including a foreword by one of today's great populisers of science.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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First Sentence
Of the chemistry of his day and generation, Kant declared that it was a science, but not Science-eine Wissenschaft, aber nicht Wissenschaft-for that the criterion of true science lay in its relation to mathematics. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Of the chemistry of his day and generation, Kant declared that it was a science, but not Science-eine Wissenschaft, aber nicht Wissenschaft-for that the criterion of true science lay in its relation to mathematics. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By D. Dearden
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Very disappointing. This is an abruptly and arbitrarily truncated small portion of photocopied pages from an early edition of the book - less than 25% of the complete work, or 18% depending on whether it was taken from the 1917 or 1942 edition (we are not even told which). In addition, the copying was implemented in a generally careless fashion, as follows:
1) Only the first 200 pages are included, thus missing the major part of the original.
2) No Index or table of contents.
3) No preface or foreword, or explanation of any reason for the abridgement, or even any summary of the missing content.
4) Very poor quality printing - grimy low-contrast photo-reproduction.
5) The didn't even get the pagination correct; it is printed with odd pages on the left, even on the right.
6) Over 100 pages of the 200 are taken up with Chapter 3, which was deleted from the 1961 Cambridge edition as being obsolete in the light of subsequent research.
Anyone wanting this excellent and important book would be much better advised to seek a secondhand copy of the Cambridge 1961 / 1966 abridged edition. At 345 pages, this has been intelligently edited to preserve the essence of the original while removing repetitive or outdated material (with a full explanation of the decisions taken).
1) Only the first 200 pages are included, thus missing the major part of the original.
2) No Index or table of contents.
3) No preface or foreword, or explanation of any reason for the abridgement, or even any summary of the missing content.
4) Very poor quality printing - grimy low-contrast photo-reproduction.
5) The didn't even get the pagination correct; it is printed with odd pages on the left, even on the right.
6) Over 100 pages of the 200 are taken up with Chapter 3, which was deleted from the 1961 Cambridge edition as being obsolete in the light of subsequent research.
Anyone wanting this excellent and important book would be much better advised to seek a secondhand copy of the Cambridge 1961 / 1966 abridged edition. At 345 pages, this has been intelligently edited to preserve the essence of the original while removing repetitive or outdated material (with a full explanation of the decisions taken).
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Daniel Brown
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
THIS IS NOT THE STANDARD EDITION OF THE BOOK, and is far too abridged and contains almost no diagrams!
Anyone who has read a proper edition will tell you this is an amazing work full of beautiful biological illustrations... This is NOT that edition!
This warning only applies to the Createspace edition, and not the Canto one (which is great, but more expensive)
Anyone who has read a proper edition will tell you this is an amazing work full of beautiful biological illustrations... This is NOT that edition!
This warning only applies to the Createspace edition, and not the Canto one (which is great, but more expensive)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Peter Medawar called this "the finest work in all the annals of science." It is a great pity that the the copy that I have just purchased is such a substandard publication. It has no publishing details at all and is a very faint facsimile of the original. Unfortunately it is so faint I am unable to read it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Rosiewoods
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've just received my copy and I am really disappointed with the quality of the print inside. It is as if all the pages have been photocopied badly. I feel like I have to strain to read it properly. I would not recommend buying this copy.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I heard about this marvellous book as I was reading in the typical popular science literature years ago now but its almost impossible to avoid contact with this tome of the archetypal polymath D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson. A remarkable man with a wonderful open view of science and the, what's now called, interdisciplinarian approach to the world. Refreshingly full of new ideas especially for his day and even now where conservatism as usual is the norm in scientific circles. I hope many scientists read this book and see not just a curiosity but a representation of a whole approach to the world of nature. I will never forget the first time I read the chapter on coordinate transformations in animal shapes, today's schools simply do not inspire in this way and its time this changed. The prescence of this book, well read, on any person's bookshelf is a must.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Melboy
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Do not purchase this book! It is only the first 200 pages of a much much longer text (over 1100 pages I believe). It is poor quality, its literally a photocopy of the orginal and a fuzzy grey one at that. There is no table of contents. Very surprised Amazon are selling this "book". I'm returning mine for a refund.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By brown,b
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very edited version of the original, and unfortunately for me, the chapter I most wanted to read has been omitted.
stanley freedman
stanley freedman
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First published in 1917; revised in 1942 - about 800 and 1100 pages respectively. Those volumes are collector's items by now and perhaps stand as a monument to disinterested curiosity in wartime. This edited Cambridge University version (editor John Tyler Bonner) is about 300 pages and therefore seriously shorter, though the original wording and diagrams were retained as much as possible.
For people unused to this type of material, let me list a few topics (examples only, and simplified!):--
[1] The properties of oxygen - its diffusion in liquids and so on - determine the maximum size of organisms which need oxygen for energy. (I.e. animals rather than plants). Thus insects - which have no heart - are smaller than mammals, for example. Partial pressures of oxygen and nitrogen dissolved in river water have their own controlling influences.
[2] Lengths, areas, and volumes when scaled up are in proportion to l: l squared: l cubed. Thus an internal skeleton, made twice as tall, must support about eight times the musculature of the original skeleton. This sort of thing helps explains thicker bones in large animals - and such things as lung size, and heartbeat rate.
[3] Fish are supported by the surrounding water, and are roughly as efficient irrespective of size. Birds on the other hand cannot fly if their wing size and muscle ratio are too small. Hence birds's sizes have evolved to be very accurately controlled, while fish may grow in size almost indefinitely.
[4] Because of diffraction at the side of a pinhole (i.e. blurring), very tiny eyes cannot have pupils.
[5] Ram's horns grow in a spiral, of a type with keeps the centre of gravity constant. Thus ram's heads bear their load in an efficient manner.... Read more ›
For people unused to this type of material, let me list a few topics (examples only, and simplified!):--
[1] The properties of oxygen - its diffusion in liquids and so on - determine the maximum size of organisms which need oxygen for energy. (I.e. animals rather than plants). Thus insects - which have no heart - are smaller than mammals, for example. Partial pressures of oxygen and nitrogen dissolved in river water have their own controlling influences.
[2] Lengths, areas, and volumes when scaled up are in proportion to l: l squared: l cubed. Thus an internal skeleton, made twice as tall, must support about eight times the musculature of the original skeleton. This sort of thing helps explains thicker bones in large animals - and such things as lung size, and heartbeat rate.
[3] Fish are supported by the surrounding water, and are roughly as efficient irrespective of size. Birds on the other hand cannot fly if their wing size and muscle ratio are too small. Hence birds's sizes have evolved to be very accurately controlled, while fish may grow in size almost indefinitely.
[4] Because of diffraction at the side of a pinhole (i.e. blurring), very tiny eyes cannot have pupils.
[5] Ram's horns grow in a spiral, of a type with keeps the centre of gravity constant. Thus ram's heads bear their load in an efficient manner.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Feels like a ripoff
I wish I had read the previous customer reviews. Not only is it an abridged edition, the quality of the printing is so poor (black lettering on a grey stippled background) that it... Read more
Published 27 days ago by M. J. Anders
1.0 out of 5 stars
My Negative Comments on shoddy product
This print-out is dreadful and cheapest possible offering that degrades the presentation ,authorship and reputation of a beautiful work.Shame on you !
Published 2 months ago by brian
1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible quality edition
I regret purchasing this edition, which is poorly printed to the point of illegibility. I should have read the existing reviews more carefully. BEWARE!
Published 3 months ago by R. Thorn
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our bodies are conditioned by the strength of gravity
This is a classic work on why animals take the form they do. It explains body forms in terms of their mathematical and physical aspects. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Stephen Hurrell
4.0 out of 5 stars
great scientific book
Used this as research for my product design course, his arguements on evolution. and growth were of great value. Read more
Published 17 months ago by shane t
5.0 out of 5 stars
Arts in Science
Classic Nouveau.
A fantastic point of view from science that complements the work of Patrick Geddes.
IMPRESCINDIBLE
A fantastic point of view from science that complements the work of Patrick Geddes.
IMPRESCINDIBLE
Published on 22 Feb 2010 by Juan Cabello Arribas
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