Skip to content
On Growth and FormD'Arcy Wentworth Thompson

On Growth and Form

by OpenStories

Original author: D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson

CompletedPublished Updated

"On Growth and Form" by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson is a scientific work published in 1917. This mathematical exploration of biology challenges evolution as the sole explanation for living organisms' shapes and structures. Thompson demonstrates how physical laws and mechanics govern biological forms, drawing striking parallels between jellyfish and falling liquid drops, bird bones and engineering trusses, and plant spirals and mathematical sequences. His famous transformation method reveals how animal skulls can be mathematically related through coordinate grids, pioneering an entirely new approach to understanding life's architecture.

On Growth and Form, by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #55264.

  • 268,275words
  • 40chapters
  • 0stars
  • 0bookmarks
  • 1hits
Start reading

40 Chapters

  1. 1.Front Matter873 words
  2. 2.Epilogue: 7783,971 words
  3. 3.Chapter I: Introductory4,908 words
  4. 4.Chapter II: On Magnitude11,291 words
  5. 5.Chapter III: The Rate of Growth (1)8,715 words
  6. 6.Chapter III: The Rate of Growth (2)8,620 words
  7. 7.Chapter III: The Rate of Growth (3)8,770 words
  8. 8.Chapter III: The Rate of Growth (4)1,284 words
  9. 9.Conclusion: And Summary1,506 words
  10. 10.Chapter IV: On the Internal Form and Structure of the Cell (1)8,919 words
  11. 11.Chapter IV: On the Internal Form and Structure of the Cell (2)4,811 words
  12. 12.Chapter V: The Forms of Cells (1)8,868 words
  13. 13.Chapter V: The Forms of Cells (2)8,414 words
  14. 14.Chapter V: The Forms of Cells (3)8,040 words
  15. 15.Chapter VI: A Note on Adsorption5,041 words
  16. 16.Chapter VII: The Forms of Tissues or Cell-Aggregates (1)8,751 words
  17. 17.Chapter VII: The Forms of Tissues or Cell-Aggregates (2)7,166 words
  18. 18.Chapter VIII: THE FORMS OF TISSUES OR CELL-AGGREGATES (continued) (1)8,876 words
  19. 19.Chapter VIII: THE FORMS OF TISSUES OR CELL-AGGREGATES (continued) (2)8,797 words
  20. 20.Chapter VIII: THE FORMS OF TISSUES OR CELL-AGGREGATES (continued) (3)860 words
  1. 21.Chapter IX: On Concretions, Spicules, and Spicular Skeletons (1)8,905 words
  2. 22.Chapter IX: On Concretions, Spicules, and Spicular Skeletons (2)8,703 words
  3. 23.Chapter IX: On Concretions, Spicules, and Spicular Skeletons (3)4,250 words
  4. 24.Chapter X: A Parenthetic Note on Geodetics1,696 words
  5. 25.Chapter XI: The Logarithmic Spiral (1)8,817 words
  6. 26.Chapter XI: The Logarithmic Spiral (2)8,672 words
  7. 27.Chapter XI: The Logarithmic Spiral (3)8,615 words
  8. 28.Chapter XII: The Spiral Shells of the Foraminifera6,883 words
  9. 29.Chapter XIII: The Shapes of Horns, and of Teeth or Tusks: with a Note on Torsion7,967 words
  10. 30.Chapter XIV: On Leaf-Arrangement, or Phyllotaxis5,452 words
  11. 31.Chapter XV: On the Shapes of Eggs, and of Certain Other Hollow Structures6,327 words
  12. 32.Chapter XVI: On Form and Mechanical Efficiency (1)8,875 words
  13. 33.Chapter XVI: On Form and Mechanical Efficiency (2)6,655 words
  14. 34.Chapter XVII (1)8,881 words
  15. 35.Chapter XVII (2)6,170 words
  16. 36.Epilogue (1)8,717 words
  17. 37.Epilogue (2)8,768 words
  18. 38.Epilogue (3)8,574 words
  19. 39.Epilogue (4)6,003 words
  20. 40.Part I: 7s 6d net. Vol. V, Part II. 5s net. Vol. VI. 15s net864 words