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Structural Stability and Morphogenesis
An Outline of a General Theory of Models. Translation of Stabilit tructurelle et Morphog'se.
408 pages, Paperback
First published January 20, 1972
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252 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 29, 2017
Structural Stability and Rene Thom came to my attention due to my work in Catastrophe Theory (I encountered it during my second (? third? maybe even fourth?) time through college and it has stayed with me ever since). This is a serious math book (although sometimes I wondered if I was reading fiction, to be honest) and I don't recommend it for anyone unless they've got a good foundation in complexity and topology.
But if you do, my god what a read! The translation of information to form is itself worth the time it takes to read.
But if you do, my god what a read! The translation of information to form is itself worth the time it takes to read.
September 12, 2020
Just the sheer wealth of inventiveness and insight in this book is mind boggling. You'll want to be at least somewhat familiar with some topology and functional analysis to read this, but holy hell is it worth it.
August 9, 2025
This classic offers an unusual and intuitively appealing framework for thinking about morphogenesis, clearly inspired by D’Arcy Thompson. Its perspective is markedly different from standard treatments and, at its best, can be genuinely inspiring.
However, the scope is restricted to animals, with little engagement with plant development. The treatment of developmental mechanisms is qualitative, with minimal mathematical formulation, no predictive framework, and no validation. The discussion remains largely phenomenological, which is both its strength and its limitation.
Unfortunately, the prose is often cryptic, redundant, and occasionally hand-waving, making the argument hard to follow and leaving the reader unclear on the ultimate conclusion. As such, the book serves more as a suggestive starting point than a definitive treatment.
However, the scope is restricted to animals, with little engagement with plant development. The treatment of developmental mechanisms is qualitative, with minimal mathematical formulation, no predictive framework, and no validation. The discussion remains largely phenomenological, which is both its strength and its limitation.
Unfortunately, the prose is often cryptic, redundant, and occasionally hand-waving, making the argument hard to follow and leaving the reader unclear on the ultimate conclusion. As such, the book serves more as a suggestive starting point than a definitive treatment.
Want to read
January 23, 2009Half way through chapter one and this is already one of my favorite books of all times.
UPDATE: On hold while I read up on some topology. This book quickly becomes indigestable without a good foothold there.
UPDATE: On hold while I read up on some topology. This book quickly becomes indigestable without a good foothold there.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews