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On Growth and Form (Canto Classics)
£13.00£14.20 (-8%)
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.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Abridged edition (15 May 2014), Cambridge University Press |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 368 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1107672562 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1107672567 |
| Dimensions | 13.97 x 2.11 x 21.59 cm |
by Allie Allbright
Peter Medawar called this “the finest work in all the annals of science.” It is a great pity that the the copy that I have just purchased is such a substandard publication. It has no publishing details at all and is a very faint facsimile of the original. Unfortunately it is so faint I am unable to read it.
by Mrs Toto
Husband has been after this for ages..really pleased with it!
by Rosemary S. Perrett
Unlike most science books this enthralling book is still exciting and relevant- it well deserves its clasdic status.
by D. Dearden
Very disappointing. This is an abruptly and arbitrarily truncated small portion of photocopied pages from an early edition of the book – less than 25% of the complete work, or 18% depending on whether it was taken from the 1917 or 1942 edition (we are not even told which). In addition, the copying was implemented in a generally careless fashion, as follows:
1) Only the first 200 pages are included, thus missing the major part of the original.
2) No Index or table of contents.
3) No preface or foreword, or explanation of any reason for the abridgement, or even any summary of the missing content.
4) Very poor quality printing – grimy low-contrast photo-reproduction.
5) The didn’t even get the pagination correct; it is printed with odd pages on the left, even on the right.
6) Over 100 pages of the 200 are taken up with Chapter 3, which was deleted from the 1961 Cambridge edition as being obsolete in the light of subsequent research.
Anyone wanting this excellent and important book would be much better advised to seek a secondhand copy of the Cambridge 1961 / 1966 abridged edition. At 345 pages, this has been intelligently edited to preserve the essence of the original while removing repetitive or outdated material (with a full explanation of the decisions taken).
by M. J. Anders
I wish I had read the previous customer reviews. Not only is it an abridged edition, the quality of the printing is so poor (black lettering on a grey stippled background) that it is almost impossible to read for people with less than perfect eyesight.
This is the first time ever I feel ripped off by Amazon (and the unnamed publisher of this poor edition) and unfortunately I am too late to exercise my right to return the book.
I am truly disappointed, the more so since I learned there are free, good quality unabridged versions available on the web.
by S. R. Holland
In the slightly hard-to-read style of earlier times, this book is full of thought-provoking and original ideas. It just oozes erudition and deep knowledge. Well worth its few pounds.
by Aj Grice
A classic work but not light reading. Thompson describes forms in nature in great detail with reference to mathematics and supported by many beautifully drawn diagrams. This is a nice edition but even though it is abridged (it was once over a thousand pages long) it is still heavy going and certainly not for my bed time reading. It’s a shame there is no hard back version available just to lend it gravitas for it’s a book that deserves to be bound in embossed leather.
by Olivier
Great book!