Inthisclassicofbiologyandmodernscience,SirD’ArcyWentworthThompson(1860-1948),oneofthemostdistinguishedscientistsofthemodernera,setsforthhisseminal“theoryoftransformation“-thatonespeciesevolvesintoanothernotbysuccessiveminorchangesinindividualbodypartsbutbylarge-scaletransformationsinvolvingthebodyasawhole.Firstwrittenin1917,thebookwasrevisedbyThompsonin1942--therevisionreprintedhere.Theesteeminwhichthismonumental,lavishlyillustratedworkisuniversallyheldderivesnotonlyfromitsscholarshipandcreativity,butalsofromtherichliterarystylethatexemplifiesThompson’sgreateruditioninthephysicalandnaturalsciences,ancientandmodernlanguagesandthehumanities.Thebookbeginswithstudiesoforganicmagnitude,therateofgrowth,cellularformandstructure,adsorption,andtheformsoftissues,thenexaminesavastspectrumoflifeforms,andconcludeswithacomparisonofrelatedformsthatleadstothetheoryoftransformations.
