Nature at its weirdest: what metamorphosis reveals about science and ourselves

""Metamorphosis is wild," marvels historian Oren Harman. A caterpillar completely dissolves inside its chrysalis, before reconstructing itself in the shape of a butterfly. The 'immortal jellyfish' ( Turritopsis dohrnii) reverts from its mature, floating form into a polyp that dwells on the ocean bed when threatened, only to eventually turn back into a mature jellyfish again - never dying of old age."

"How such weird natural phenomena strike at the core of our understanding of biology is the focus of Harman's beautiful book, Metamorphosis. The author uses the life stories of four scientists to argue that studies of metamorphosis - drastic changes in the body plan of an organism after birth - have been key to our understanding of the mechanisms of genetic inheritance, organismal development and evolution. It is a sweeping biography that is also part biology textbook, part cultural human history and part personal odyssey."

"Harman begins in the 1600s, when philosopher Aristotle's influence on popular theories was still prevalent and science and magic co-existed in the minds of scholars. "In reports of the highest caliber, sightings of new planets lay side by side with sightings of unicorns and dogs who could bark in French," he notes. Many people still adhered to Aristotle's theory that spontaneous generation - the miraculous formation of a living organism from dead material - accounted for metamorphoses."

Metamorphosis portrays dramatic biological transformations such as caterpillars dissolving within chrysalises and Turritopsis dohrnii reverting to a polyp and back. Studies of these post-birth body-plan changes have revealed principles of genetic inheritance, organismal development and evolution. Historical perspectives range from Aristotle’s acceptance of spontaneous generation to Maria Sibylla Merian’s 1699 Suriname investigations and life-cycle illustrations. The narrative follows four scientists whose observations and experiments linked strange life histories to broader biological mechanisms. The account situates scientific discovery within cultural and intellectual contexts where magic and emerging empirical methods coexisted.

Read at Nature