The Analysis of Form: Without Measurement and Without Computers

SYNOPSIS. An attempt is made to argue from discrete measurement of shape, through field representations of form, to analyses that encompass entire patterns. One method for achieving this last is the optical Fourier transformation. Examples of how it works on theoretical patterns are presented. Results of practical studies of actual radiographs of cancellous patterns in vertebral bodies of humans and apes are given. Architectural elements totally unsuspected from normal radiographic examinations are found. And it is shown that these have implications for our understanding of the nature of the relationship between bone architecture and stress bearing. The application more widely of such a method for the analysis of complex patterns is noted.