D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (May 2, 1860- June 21, 1948) was a biologist and mathematician and the author of the 1917 book, On Growth and Form, an influential work of striking originality. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he has been called "the first biomathematician." He died in St. Andrews, Scotland. May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of organisms. ... A mathematician is a person whose area of study and research is mathematics. ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Edinburgh viewed from Arthurs Seat. ... Mathematical biology or biomathematics is an interdisciplinary field of academic study which aims at modelling natural, biological processes using mathematical techniques and tools. ... See St Andrews, New South Wales for St Andrews, Sydney, Australia. ...

The central thesis of On Growth and Form is that biologists of his day overemphasized the role of evolution, and underemphasized the roles of physics and mechanics, as determinants of the form and structure of living organisms. Charles Darwin, the father of modern evolutionary theory In the life sciences, evolution is a change in the traits of living organisms over generations, including the emergence of new species. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Physics sci. ... Mechanics refers to: a craft relating to machinery (from the Latin mechanicus, from the Greek mechanikos, meaning one skilled in machines), or a range of disciplines in science and engineering. ... This article is about the meanings of the word form connected with shape or structure. ... In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is a living being. ...

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 series has become a textbook staple. This article is about jellyfish, the sea creatures. ... The Pitch Drop Experiment at the University of Queensland. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... In medicine, a truss is a kind of surgical appliance, particularly one used for hernia patients. ... In botany, phyllotaxis is the arrangement of the leaves on the shoot of a plant. ... In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which turns around some central point or axis, getting progressively closer to or farther from it, depending on which way you follow the curve. ... In mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers form a sequence defined recursively by: In words: you start with 0 and 1, and then produce the next Fibonacci number by adding the two previous Fibonacci numbers. ...

Thompson's illustration of the transformation of Argyropelecus Olfersi into Sternoptyx diaphana by applying a 70° shear

Utterly sui generis, the book never quite fit into the mainstream of biological thought. It does not really present any single central discovery, nor, in many cases, does it attempt to establish a causal relationship between the forms emerging from physics with the comparable forms seen in biology. It is a work in the "descriptive" tradition; Thompson did not articulate his insights in the form of experimental hypotheses that can be tested. Thompson was aware of this, saying that "This book of mine has little need of preface, for indeed it is 'all preface' from beginning to end." Image from Darcy Thompson On Growth and Form On re-reading the material below and having discussed it with another user, I notice that Mr. ... Image from Darcy Thompson On Growth and Form On re-reading the material below and having discussed it with another user, I notice that Mr. ... Sui generis is a (post) Latin expression, literally meaning of its own gender/genus or unique in its characteristics. ...

The huge (1116 pages in an edition currently in print), well-written, and extensively illustrated tome has enchanted and stimulated generations of biologists, architects, artists, and mathematicians, and, of course, those working on the boundaries of disciplines.

Perhaps the most famous part of the work is Chapter XVII, "The Comparison of Related Forms." He explored the degree to which differences in the forms of related animals could be described by means of relatively simple mathematical transformations.

Quote

• "For the harmony of the world is made manifest in Form and Number, and the heart and soul and all poetry of Natural Philosophy are embodied in the concept of mathematical beauty." (On Growth and Form, 1917.)

See also

• Morphogenesis
• Biophysics

Morphogenesis (from the Greek morphê shape and genesis creation) is one of three fundamental aspects of developmental biology along with the control of cell growth and cellular differentiation. ... Biophysics (also biological physics) is an interdisciplinary science that applies theories and methods of the physical sciences to questions of biology. ...

References

• On Growth and Form, ISBN 0486671356

External link

• D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Thompson_D%27Arcy.html)
• Using a computer to visualise change in biological organisms (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Miscellaneous/darcy.html) A modern computer-based approach to Thompson transformations