W. Anthony Frankino, Douglas J. Emlen, and Alexander W. Shingleton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520247666
- eISBN:
- 9780520944473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520247666.003.0015
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter reviews traditional and newer approaches to the empirical study of biological form, highlighting the contribution of experimental evolution to an improved understanding of why and how ...
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This chapter reviews traditional and newer approaches to the empirical study of biological form, highlighting the contribution of experimental evolution to an improved understanding of why and how particular transformations in animal shape occur. It begins by reviewing different mathematical methods for quantifying and comparing organismal shape, focusing on one methodology in particular: the scaling relationship between two traits. The chapter also examines the biology of shape expression and evolution, and presents case studies where experimental evolution has been used to explore various aspects of scaling relationship evolution.Less
This chapter reviews traditional and newer approaches to the empirical study of biological form, highlighting the contribution of experimental evolution to an improved understanding of why and how particular transformations in animal shape occur. It begins by reviewing different mathematical methods for quantifying and comparing organismal shape, focusing on one methodology in particular: the scaling relationship between two traits. The chapter also examines the biology of shape expression and evolution, and presents case studies where experimental evolution has been used to explore various aspects of scaling relationship evolution.
George R. McGhee
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262016421
- eISBN:
- 9780262298872
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262016421.003.0007
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter deals with the theoretical analysis of evolutionary constraint in producing convergent evolution. It investigates the implications of theoretically possible, but nevertheless ...
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This chapter deals with the theoretical analysis of evolutionary constraint in producing convergent evolution. It investigates the implications of theoretically possible, but nevertheless nonexistent, ecological roles on Earth for the concept of convergent evolution, and also analyzes the phenomenon of convergent evolution with respect to the spectrum of existent, nonexistent, and impossible biological forms. The chapter shows that the evolution of development on Earth may have been a two-stage process, and also suggests that possible, but nonexistent, biological forms can be visualized using the techniques of theoretical morphology.Less
This chapter deals with the theoretical analysis of evolutionary constraint in producing convergent evolution. It investigates the implications of theoretically possible, but nevertheless nonexistent, ecological roles on Earth for the concept of convergent evolution, and also analyzes the phenomenon of convergent evolution with respect to the spectrum of existent, nonexistent, and impossible biological forms. The chapter shows that the evolution of development on Earth may have been a two-stage process, and also suggests that possible, but nonexistent, biological forms can be visualized using the techniques of theoretical morphology.
Tim Horder
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226569871
- eISBN:
- 9780226570075
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226570075.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter describes, analyzes and attempts to explain the highly original and visionary approach to the fundamental nature of living organisms presented by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860-1948) in ...
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This chapter describes, analyzes and attempts to explain the highly original and visionary approach to the fundamental nature of living organisms presented by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860-1948) in his classic, idiosyncratic book, On Growth and Form (1917). In opposition to the then common explanatory concept of vitalism, he argued that the adaptedness and integrity of structure seen in the anatomical shapes of organisms could be explained in terms of physical forces and precisely described in mathematical terms. He can be seen as part of the modernizing of biology. The book has continued to inspire distinguished biologists to this day and has been a significant influence on artists, architects and engineers. It is argued that D'Arcy Thompson's influence owes much to the imposing language and rich pictorial content of his book, but that book represents a uniquely powerful expression of the challenges still facing us in fully explaining the structural complexity of biological forms.Less
This chapter describes, analyzes and attempts to explain the highly original and visionary approach to the fundamental nature of living organisms presented by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860-1948) in his classic, idiosyncratic book, On Growth and Form (1917). In opposition to the then common explanatory concept of vitalism, he argued that the adaptedness and integrity of structure seen in the anatomical shapes of organisms could be explained in terms of physical forces and precisely described in mathematical terms. He can be seen as part of the modernizing of biology. The book has continued to inspire distinguished biologists to this day and has been a significant influence on artists, architects and engineers. It is argued that D'Arcy Thompson's influence owes much to the imposing language and rich pictorial content of his book, but that book represents a uniquely powerful expression of the challenges still facing us in fully explaining the structural complexity of biological forms.
Denise Gigante
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300136852
- eISBN:
- 9780300155587
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300136852.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
What makes something alive? Or, more to the point, what is life? The question is as old as the ages and has not been (and may never be) resolved. Life springs from life, and liveliness motivates ...
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What makes something alive? Or, more to the point, what is life? The question is as old as the ages and has not been (and may never be) resolved. Life springs from life, and liveliness motivates matter to act the way it does. Yet vitality in its very unpredictability often appears as a threat. This book explores how major writers of the Romantic period strove to produce living forms of art on an analogy with biological form, often finding themselves face to face with a power known as monstrous. The poets Christopher Smart, William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats were all immersed in a culture obsessed with scientific ideas about vital power and its generation, and they broke with poetic convention in imagining new forms of “life.” This book offers a way to read ostensibly difficult poetry and reflects on the natural-philosophical idea of organic form and the discipline of literary studies.Less
What makes something alive? Or, more to the point, what is life? The question is as old as the ages and has not been (and may never be) resolved. Life springs from life, and liveliness motivates matter to act the way it does. Yet vitality in its very unpredictability often appears as a threat. This book explores how major writers of the Romantic period strove to produce living forms of art on an analogy with biological form, often finding themselves face to face with a power known as monstrous. The poets Christopher Smart, William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats were all immersed in a culture obsessed with scientific ideas about vital power and its generation, and they broke with poetic convention in imagining new forms of “life.” This book offers a way to read ostensibly difficult poetry and reflects on the natural-philosophical idea of organic form and the discipline of literary studies.
