The Metamorphosis of Plants
- Paperback
156 pages
- Release Date
10 September 2024
Summary
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 …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262551021 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0262551020 |
| Author: | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gordon L. Miller |
| Publisher: | MIT Press Ltd |
| Imprint: | MIT Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 156 |
| Release Date: | 10 September 2024 |
| Weight: | 280g |
| Dimensions: | 14mm x 203mm x 153mm |
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What They're Saying
Critics 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
“Goethe would be delighted with this edition of
About The Author
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), a towering figure in German literature, was the author of The Sorrows of Young Werther, Faust, Italian Journey, The Theory of Colours, and many other works.
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