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About this item
Highlights
- A search for the meaning of one of nature's greatest riddles: why do so many creatures transform?
- About the Author: Oren Harman is Senior Research Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and teaches at the Graduate Program in Science Technology and Society at Bar-Ilan University.
- 384 Pages
- Science, Natural History
Description
Book Synopsis
A search for the meaning of one of nature's greatest riddles: why do so many creatures transform? "How many creatures walking on this earth / Have their first being in another form?" the Roman poet Ovid asked two thousand years ago. He could not have known the full extent of the truth: today, biologists estimate a stunning three-quarters of all animal species on Earth undergo some form of metamorphosis. But why do tadpoles transform into frogs, caterpillars into butterflies, elvers into eels, immortal jellyfish from sea sprigs to medusae and back again, growing younger and younger in frigid ocean depths? Why must creatures go through massive destruction and remodeling to become who they are? Tracing a path from Aristotle to Darwin to cutting-edge science today, Harman explores that central mystery. Metamorphosis, however, isn't just a biological puzzle: it takes us to the very heart of questions of being and identity, whatever kind of change we humans may undergo. Metamorphosis is a new classic of natural history: a book that, by unveiling a mystery of nature, causes us to relearn ourselves.About the Author
Oren Harman is Senior Research Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and teaches at the Graduate Program in Science Technology and Society at Bar-Ilan University. His books include Evolutions and The Price of Altruism, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He lives in Berlin and Jerusalem.Dimensions (Overall): 9.25 Inches (H) x 6.0 Inches (W)
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 384
Genre: Science
Sub-Genre: Natural History
Publisher: Basic Books
Format: Hardcover
Author: Oren Harman
Language: English
Street Date: October 14, 2025
TCIN: 1001947613
UPC: 9781541607606
Item Number (DPCI): 247-22-8260
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Shipping details
Estimated ship dimensions: 1 inches length x 6 inches width x 9.25 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1 pounds
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