Morphometrics For The Life Sciences

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 classify and compare visual images effortlessly. What is not so well-developed is our ability to measure this visual information. This study examines a number of approaches in use at time of publication to characterize the biological form numerically. It presents an overview of these methods, starting with a review of measurement set in a historical framework. The book should 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.