Organic Form and Related Biological Problems

Abstract

THE title of this book is aptly descriptive of the contents. In a series of related essays, the author has discussed the factors which determine form in living organisms. It is difficult to do justice to a work such as this in a short review, for the author has succeeded in saying so much, and that with an illuminating perspicacity, that is cogent in each of his condensed chapters. These are concerned with an inquiry into the problem of organic form, the functional aspect of morphogenetic processes, competition as an integrative factor in morphogenesis, differentiation, chemical equilibrium and organic integration, and so on. On each theme, the leading ideas that at one time or another have been held are clearly set out, and an attempt is made to find a sure way to explanations of a valid kind. In these discussions the author's fairness and balance are a striking feature; his contribution is patently the result of long and deep pondering of central themes in contemporary biology.

Organic Form and Related Biological Problems

By S. J. Holmes. Pp. vii+169. (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press; London: Cambridge University Press, 1948.) 27s. 6d. net.