by Pete E Lestrel (University of California, Los Angeles)

The idea of form is one of the most fundamental concepts underlying all of the sciences. Our visual system is so well developed that we are able to effortlessly classify and compare visual images. What is not so well developed has been our ability to measure this visual information. This book examines a number of recent approaches currently in use to numerically characterize the biological form. It presents a unique overview of these methods, starting with a review of measurement set in a historical framework. The book will be of interest to graduate students in addition to a wide range of researchers, including those in the specialized fields of human biology, growth and development, orthodontics, botany, biology, ecology, zoology, as well as dentistry and medicine.

• Theoretical Background:
  • Introduction to Morphometrics
  • An Introduction to Research Methods
  • A History of Scientific Measurement
  • Toward Quantification in Biology
  • Complexity, Systems and Models
  • A Formal Model of Form
• Morphometric Techniques:
  • Multivariate Morphometrics
  • Coordinate Morphometrics
  • Boundary Morphometrics
  • Structural Morphometrics