Introduction

In his extraordinary work, On Growth and Form, D'Arcy Thompson (1961) set forth a framework for the analysis of morphological forms that still serves as inspiration for research on this topic. Thompson realized that complex forms may originate from simple principles—a theme that has returned with the now-familiar example of a fern leaf as a fractal image—that is, as geometric and topological aspects of form expressed through development. Some of his ideas led to incorporation of quantitative measurement in morphological studies, for example, the study of allometric relationships. It is striking, though, that his qualitative approach has served so well as a source of understanding of morphological form and as inspiration for new approaches to the study of form. This seeming timelessness suggests that we may do well to rethink how the study of the morphological form can be approached using Thompson's theme of seeing the underlying simplicity in what is an otherwise complex form.

This chapter begins with a brief review of the conceptual framework that Thompson set out for the study of growth and form. It then uses the review to introduce, in more detail, two themes in the study of form: representation of form, often in terms of the boundary of a form, and comparison of forms seen as a transformation of one form into the other.