The Metamorphosis of Plants

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. With this short book -123 numbered paragraph- Goethe aimed to tell the story of botanical forms in process, to present a motion picture of the metamorphosis of plants. This MIT Press edition illustrates Goethe's text with a series of stunning and starkly beautiful color photographs. It is the most completely and colorfully illustrated edition of Goethe's book ever published, vividly demonstrating Goethe's ideas of transformation and interdependence.