On Growth and Form

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson

Cambridge University Press, Jul 31, 1992 - Science - 345 pages

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.

What people are saying

Review: On Growth and Form

User Review  - Nigel_s - Goodreads

A beautiful and bountiful book, I have spent many hours since reading it the first time just looking at the pictures.

Review: On Growth and Form

User Review  - Peter - Goodreads

A science classic. The meaning of form. Invention of chaos: A science masterpiece. Written during WWI, revised during WW2. An amazing amount of knowledge, viewed through the eyes of an incredibly ...

Contents

• Introductory: 1
• On Magnitude: 15
• The Forms of Cells: 49
• The Forms of Tissues or Cellaggregates: 88
• On Spicules and Spicular Skeletons: 132
• The Equiangular: 172
• The Shapes of Horns and of Teeth or Tusks: 202
• On Form and Mechanical Efficiency: 221
• On the Theory of Transformations or the Comparison of Related Forms: 268
• Epilogue: 326
• Index: 329

About the author

John Tyler Bonner is professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University. His books include "The Social Amoebae: The Biology of Cellular Slime Molds" and "Why Size Matters: From Bacteria to Blue Whales" (both Princeton).

Bibliographic information

• Title: On Growth and Form; Canto (Cambridge University Press); Canto Series; Canto edition
• Author: D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson
• Editor: John Tyler Bonner
• Edition: abridged, illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1992
• ISBN: 0521437768, 9780521437769
• Length: 345 pages
• Subjects: Science / Life Sciences / Cell Biology; Science / Life Sciences / Developmental Biology; Science / Life Sciences / Evolution; Science / Life Sciences / Molecular Biology; Science / Reference