On Growth and Form

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson

doi:10.1017/CBO9781107325852

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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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi
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Contents
pp vii-viii
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Foreword by Stephen Jay Gould
pp ix-xiii
This Was a Man
- By Stephen Jay Gould, Harvard University
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Introduction by JOHN TYLER BONNER
pp xiv-xxi
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Addendum
pp xxi-xxii
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TYPOGRAPHICAL NOTE
pp xxii-xxii
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I - Introductory
pp 1-14
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II - On Magnitude
pp 15-48
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III - The Forms of Cells
pp 49-87
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IV - The Forms of Tissues, or Cell-aggregates
pp 88-131
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V - On Spicules and Spicular Skeletons
pp 132-171
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VI - The Equiangular Spiral
pp 172-201
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VII - The Shapes of Horns and of Teeth or Tusks
pp 202-220
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VIII - On Form and Mechanical Efficiency
pp 221-267
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IX - On the Theory of Transformations, or the Comparison of Related Forms
pp 268-325
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X - Epilogue
pp 326-328
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Index
pp 329-346
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Seven Clues to the Origin of Life
pp 347-347
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On Growth and Form

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

Foreword by Stephen Jay Gould
pp ix-xiii

Introduction by JOHN TYLER BONNER
pp xiv-xxi

Addendum
pp xxi-xxii

TYPOGRAPHICAL NOTE
pp xxii-xxii

I - Introductory
pp 1-14

II - On Magnitude
pp 15-48

III - The Forms of Cells
pp 49-87

IV - The Forms of Tissues, or Cell-aggregates
pp 88-131

V - On Spicules and Spicular Skeletons
pp 132-171

VI - The Equiangular Spiral
pp 172-201

VII - The Shapes of Horns and of Teeth or Tusks
pp 202-220

VIII - On Form and Mechanical Efficiency
pp 221-267

IX - On the Theory of Transformations, or the Comparison of Related Forms
pp 268-325

X - Epilogue
pp 326-328

Index
pp 329-346

Seven Clues to the Origin of Life
pp 347-347

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On Growth and Form

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