On Growth & Form

Nobel laureate Peter Medawar called On Growth and Form "the finest work of literature in all the annals of science that have been recorded in the English tongue"

And he's right. Why? Because not only does D'Arcy Thompson write like an angel but he also applied mathematics to describe biological form. Using the Logarithmic spiral, he shows how the Nautilus shell expands into 3 space while at the same time, he uses non linear shearing transforms to depict how species can subtly differentiate from one another depending on how they adapt to their environment.


Chapters in his book include:

• On Magnitude
• The Forms of Cells
• The Forms of Tissues
• On Spicules and Spicular Skeletons
• The Equiangular Spiral
• The Shapes of Horns and of Teeth or Tusks
• On Form and Mechanical Efficiency
• On the Theory of Transformations,
  or the Comparison of Related Forms

After reading this book, one's view of reality is forever changed.