"We may readily admit then, that, besides physical phenomena which are obviously physical in nature, there are actions visible as well as invisible taking place in living cells which our knowledge does not permit us to ascribe with certainty to any known physical force; and it may or may not be that these phenomena will yield in time to the methods of physical investigation. Whether they do or no, it is plain that we have no clear rule or guidance as to what is 'vital' and what is not; the whole assemblage of so-called vital phenomena, or properties of the organism, cannot be classified into those that are physical in origin and those that are 'sui generis ' and peculiar to living things. All we can do meanwhile is to analyze, bit by bit, those parts of the whole to which the ordinary laws of the physical forces more or less obviously and clearly and indubitably apply.
"But even the ordinary laws of the physical forces are by no means simple and plain. In the winding of a clock (so Kelvin once said), in the properties of matter which it involves, there is enough and more than enough mystery for our limited understanding : 'a watch spring is much farther beyond our understanding than a gaseous nebula.' We learn and learn but never know all about the smallest, humblest thing."
P. 13-14, ON GROWTH AND FORM by D'Arcy Thompson (1966, 1992)
Saturday, May 13, 2017
ON GROWTH AND FORM
"We may readily admit then, that, besides physical phenomena which are obviously physical in nature, there are actions visible as well as invisible taking place in living cells which our knowledge does not permit us to ascribe with certainty to any known physical force; and it may or may not be that these phenomena will yield in time to the methods of physical investigation. Whether they do or no, it is plain that we have no clear rule or guidance as to what is 'vital' and what is not; the whole assemblage of so-called vital phenomena, or properties of the organism, cannot be classified into those that are physical in origin and those that are 'sui generis ' and peculiar to living things. All we can do meanwhile is to analyze, bit by bit, those parts of the whole to which the ordinary laws of the physical forces more or less obviously and clearly and indubitably apply.
"But even the ordinary laws of the physical forces are by no means simple and plain. In the winding of a clock (so Kelvin once said), in the properties of matter which it involves, there is enough and more than enough mystery for our limited understanding : 'a watch spring is much farther beyond our understanding than a gaseous nebula.' We learn and learn but never know all about the smallest, humblest thing."
P. 13-14, ON GROWTH AND FORM by D'Arcy Thompson (1966, 1992)