http://www.archive.org/stream/ongrowthform1917thom#page/n7/mode/2up
This is a critical book in the history of scientific thought and I am shocked it is not yet posted or recorded!
I want to start on it, but feel as though I should upgrade my microphone before proceeding... place take up this project ASAP!
I have been prompted to seek this text by the writings of Gregory Bateson (particularly, Mind and Nature).
GROWTH AND FORM by D'Arcy Thompson
Well, quite possibly because it is over a quarter of a million words, and will result in an audio recording of 30+ hours, representing something like 120-150 hours recording, editing etc. To be brutally frank, even a seasoned reader would think twice or thrice before embarking on a solo of such complexity and size.sdkenned wrote:http://www.archive.org/stream/ongrowthform1917thom#page/n7/mode/2up
This is a critical book in the history of scientific thought and I am shocked it is not yet posted or recorded!
It could be started as a group project, of course, but that will require a book co-ordinator to manage the project, and one just has to wait until an enthusiast comes along to start it (and maintain it through to the end). It will happen... eventually... especially as you have pointed out its importance, but likely not ASAP.
However, do get your equipment sorted out and do a sound check recording to make sure all the settings etc are right, and then you will be ready for when it does get going.
Ruth
My LV catalogue page | RuthieG's CataBlog of recordings | Tweet: @RuthGolding
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TriciaG
- LibriVox Admin Team
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What is it about?
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
snip form wikipedia
The central theme of On Growth and Form is that biologists of its author's day overemphasized evolution as the fundamental determinant of the form and structure of living organisms, and underemphasized the roles of physical laws and mechanics. He advocated structuralism as an alternative to survival of the fittest in governing the form of species.
...
Thompson pointed out example after example of correlations between biological forms and mechanical phenomena. He showed the similarity in the forms of jellyfish and the forms of drops of liquid falling into viscous fluid, and between the internal supporting structures in the hollow bones of birds and well-known engineering truss designs. His observations of phyllotaxis (numerical relationships between spiral structures in plants) and the Fibonacci sequence has become a textbook staple.
Perhaps the most famous part of the work is chapter XVII, "The Comparison of Related Forms," where Thompson explored the degree to which differences in the forms of related animals could be described by means of relatively simple mathematical transformations.
The central theme of On Growth and Form is that biologists of its author's day overemphasized evolution as the fundamental determinant of the form and structure of living organisms, and underemphasized the roles of physical laws and mechanics. He advocated structuralism as an alternative to survival of the fittest in governing the form of species.
...
Thompson pointed out example after example of correlations between biological forms and mechanical phenomena. He showed the similarity in the forms of jellyfish and the forms of drops of liquid falling into viscous fluid, and between the internal supporting structures in the hollow bones of birds and well-known engineering truss designs. His observations of phyllotaxis (numerical relationships between spiral structures in plants) and the Fibonacci sequence has become a textbook staple.
Perhaps the most famous part of the work is chapter XVII, "The Comparison of Related Forms," where Thompson explored the degree to which differences in the forms of related animals could be described by means of relatively simple mathematical transformations.
Yes this is good advice. I was definitely not thinking of doing it myself. I may have registered prematurely as I know not when my recording gear will be updated... I was happy to be able to log suggestions, though.
Shawn
Shawn
RuthieG wrote:Well, quite possibly because it is over a quarter of a million words, and will result in an audio recording of 30+ hours, representing something like 120-150 hours recording, editing etc. To be brutally frank, even a seasoned reader would think twice or thrice before embarking on a solo of such complexity and size.sdkenned wrote:http://www.archive.org/stream/ongrowthform1917thom#page/n7/mode/2up
This is a critical book in the history of scientific thought and I am shocked it is not yet posted or recorded!
It could be started as a group project, of course, but that will require a book co-ordinator to manage the project, and one just has to wait until an enthusiast comes along to start it (and maintain it through to the end). It will happen... eventually... especially as you have pointed out its importance, but likely not ASAP.
However, do get your equipment sorted out and do a sound check recording to make sure all the settings etc are right, and then you will be ready for when it does get going.
Ruth
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ChristopherBooth
- Posts: 7
- Joined: February 17th, 2012, 12:31 pm
D'Arcy Thompson was one of the most amazing polymaths of history. He is fascinating, and a dip into Wiki will reveal riches. He was brilliant in many different directions, and is regarded as one of the greatest "literary" science writers. Among biologists, this book is revered. I would disagree with the first sentence quoted above, because it seems to indicate that D'Arcy Thompson deprecated evolution, which he did not. He observed things that others had not prior to his work, because of his extraordinary breadth of knowledge and interest. He was also a mathematician, and he was the one who noted the correlation between floral structures and the Fibonacci sequence. Even more remarkable was his observation that changes in structure with speciation often follows mathematically describable patterns. The illustrations in this book are jaw-dropping. D'Arcy made observations that mathematical patterns were observable in changes in species, but that was long before DNA and genomics, so there was no known mechanism through which those mathematical variations could be brought to bear, but it was obvious to him that it was so. It was not until recently that it could be understood. But, because of this, he is regarded as the grandfather of the new field of "evo-devo". For more on evo-devo, recent books by Sean Carroll (the biologist, there is a theoretical physicist by the same name) are fascinating.sdkenned wrote:snip form wikipedia
The central theme of On Growth and Form is that biologists of its author's day overemphasized evolution as the fundamental determinant of the form and structure of living organisms, and underemphasized the roles of physical laws and mechanics. He advocated structuralism as an alternative to survival of the fittest in governing the form of species.
D'Arcy Thompson brought a new mathematical paradigm into biology...and wrote beautifully.
I'd love to be a part of this project.