The Metamorphosis of Plants [Hardcover]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Author), Gordon L. Miller (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2009

Goethe's influential text, newly illustrated with stunning color photographs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Goethe would be delighted with this edition of The Metamorphosis of Plants. It does what he hoped would eventually become possible and provides pictures situated in the text of all the plants to which he refers, so that we can see for ourselves the specific points to which he is drawing our attention. Reading it, I felt that here at last is the complete book, compared to which all previous publications of it seem like only a skeleton. Thanks to Gordon Miller's wonderful photography and careful selection of images, as well as his perceptive introduction, we can now all appreciate the extraordinary nature of Goethe's achievement. We can only be astonished at the detailed and painstaking observational work, together with the overall vision of the idea of metamorphosis, which biology today recognizes as the truth of the plant. This welcome edition makes Goethe's work more widely available than ever before, both for those who have not yet had the opportunity to read it, and for those who have read it, to read it again as if for the first time."--Henri Bortoft, author of The Wholeness of Nature and Goethe's Scientific Consciousness

About the Author

The Metamorphosis of Plants, published in 1790, was Goethe's first major attempt to describe what he called in a letter to a friend "the truth about the how of the organism." Inspired by the diversity of flora he found on a journey to Italy, Goethe sought a unity of form in diverse structures. He came to see in the leaf the germ of a plant's metamorphosis--"the true Proteus who can hide or reveal himself in all vegetal forms"--from the root and stem leaves to the calyx and corolla, to pistil and stamens. With this short book--123 numbered paragraphs, in the manner of the great botanist Linnaeus--Goethe aimed to tell the story of botanical forms in process, to present, in effect, a motion picture of the metamorphosis of plants. This MIT Press edition of The Metamorphosis of Plants illustrates Goethe's text (in an English translation by Douglas Miller) with a series of stunning and starkly beautiful color photographs as well as numerous line drawings. It is the most completely and colorfully illustrated edition of Goethe's book ever published. It demonstrates vividly Goethe's ideas of transformation and interdependence, as well as the systematic use of imagination in scientific research---which influenced thinkers ranging from Darwin to Thoreau and has much to teach us today about our relationship with nature.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1 edition (September 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262013096
• ISBN-13: 978-0262013093
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Plants > Flowers

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best version of Goethe's Metamorphosis of Plants to date, February 1, 2010

By 

C. Gorman "WorthAttention" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Metamorphosis of Plants (Hardcover)

I appreciated the whole experience of reading this timely, photographically illustrated, version of Goethe's Metamorphosis of Plants.

The 'Introduction', written by Gordon L Miller, is a very succinct and clear summary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's remarkable way of coming to know, 'from within',

the true nature of plants.

Especially impressive is the way Dr Miller has used his own sumptuous photographs to illustrate Goethe's key specific observations.

Yet a further surprise and delight is to find what is a relatively inexpensive book bound in such a lovely form.

All told, the book is a pleasure to hold, smell and read!

I will certainly be recommending it to as many people as I can. It should be read by anyone who takes an interest in the natural world.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly but stunning, November 20, 2009

By 

Phil Holland (Thessaloniki, Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Metamorphosis of Plants (Hardcover)

First of all, this is an exceptionally beautiful book: compact in size, but neatly designed and illustrated with many photographs of flowers and plant parts that are printed with stunning clarity and color. The text is scientific but accessible, and because it is broken into short paragraphs, it never seems heavy. Goethe's idea is simple enough: he traces the morphological sequence from the first sprouts to the stem, leaves, flowers, fruit and seed of the next cycle, showing that the same formal principle is carried forth through each stage of the plant's development. Miller's introduction is succinct and illuminating. He also took the photographs and selected the other illustrations, including sketches by Goethe himself. The result is a scholarly treatment that anybody with an interest in plants can enjoy.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Goethe's original approach to science, October 18, 2009

By 

Dr F Valverde - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Metamorphosis of Plants (Hardcover)

Goethe was not only a brilliant writer; he was probably one of the most original men of his time. Those of you who had read Werther or Faust will now know, because of this book, another of the not-so-well facets of Goethe, which was his passion for science. In this book, which is part of a reflection he had while travelling through Italy (trying to find, among other things, love) and while looking at some flowers in an Italian garden, he had the brilliant idea that a flower is a modified leaf. This becomes part of one of his most interesting ideas about development, which is the evolution of the forms, or the idea that forms are essential to understand plant and animal development. Some of these ideas, which modern plant science has recently demonstrated, are reflected in this book, which was a much needed and serious translation from his original German assay. It is also accompanied by very descriptive and beautiful images representing those flowers he mentions in his book and is also edited in an old style which makes it very appealing. I would say it is a book that is a pleasure to read and to keep!