The Power Of Movement In Plants
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''The Power of Movement in Plants'' is a book by
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
on
phototropism Phototropism is the growth of an organism in response to a light stimulus. Phototropism is most often observed in plants, but can also occur in other organisms such as fungi. The cells on the plant that are farthest from the light contain a hor ...
and other types of movement in plants. This book continues his work in producing evidence for his theory of natural selection. As it was one of his last books, followed only by the publication of ''
The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms #REDIRECT The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms #REDIRECT The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms {{R from other capitalisation ...
{{R from other capitalisation ...
'', he was assisted by his son
Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...
in conducting the necessary experiments and preparing the manuscript. The ''Power of Movement in Plants'' was published 6 November 1880, and 1500 copies were quickly sold by publisher John Murray.''The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Vol II.'' 1959. Francis Darwin, ed. Basic Books Inc., New York. p. 502-510. This book stands at the culmination of a long line of study in plants and is immediately preceded by 'The different forms of flowers on Plants of the same species’ (1877). (See
Bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...
for additional publications on plants.) These studies on plants were first evidenced in 'On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects’ (1862), the publication that immediately followed ''On the
Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...
By Means of Natural Selection''. He co-authored this study with his son Francis Darwin (who specialised in botany) and his devotee, George Romanes, who assisted in editing the work. The work was begun in earnest late in 1877, after his work on
climbing plants A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...
(1875) and insectivorous plants (1875) stimulated his interest in the subject. At times, Darwin despaired of ever finishing the work, as the book outgrew his original expectations: :"I have written a rather big book—more is the pity—on the movements of plants, and I am now just beginning to go over the MS. for the second time, which is a horrid bore." As the book neared completion, he summarised its underlying viewpoint: :"My MS. relates to the movements of plants, and I think that I have succeeded in showing that all the more important great classes of movements are due to the modification of a kind of movement common to all parts of all plants from their earliest youth." The work concerns itself with how plants respond to external stimuli and examines these processes in individual plants to gain understanding of some general principles governing their growth and life. This continues Darwin’s work of elucidating how natural selection works and specifically how plants have adapted to differing environments whilst at the same time answering some objections of his day that evolution could not account for changes in behavioural responses. In his conclusions, Darwin presents the key features of plants from an evolutionary perspective indicating that gradual modification of these processes in response to natural selective forces like light and water could enable extensive ability to adapt. The process that creates the circular or elliptical movement of the stem and tips of plants (
circumnutation Nutation refers to the bending movements of stems, roots, leaves and other plant organs caused by differences in growth in different parts of the organ. Circumnutation refers specifically to the circular movements often exhibited by the tips of gr ...
) was identified as a significant one in enabling plants to evolve and adapt to almost any environment on the planet. Darwin also drew attention to the similarities between animals and plants, e.g., sensitivity to touch (
thigmotropism Thigmotropism is a directional growth movement which occurs as a mechanosensory response to a touch stimulus. Thigmotropism is typically found in twining plants and tendrils, however plant biologists have also found thigmotropic responses in flowe ...
), light sensitivity (
phototropism Phototropism is the growth of an organism in response to a light stimulus. Phototropism is most often observed in plants, but can also occur in other organisms such as fungi. The cells on the plant that are farthest from the light contain a hor ...
), and gravity (
geotropism Gravitropism (also known as geotropism) is a coordinated process of differential growth by a plant in response to gravity pulling on it. It also occurs in fungi. Gravity can be either "artificial gravity" or natural gravity. It is a general featu ...
). Darwin used various methods of enquiry: usually setting up rigorous controlled experiments which are clearly explained in the text, reporting the results and then drawing general conclusions. Studies of
nyctinasty Nyctinasty is the circadian rhythmic nastic movement of higher plants in response to the onset of darkness, or a plant "sleeping". Nyctinastic movements are associated with diurnal light and temperature changes and controlled by the circadian cloc ...
were particularly burdensome, to Darwin's rest as well as to the plants: :"I think we have ''proved'' that the sleep of plants is to lessen the injury to the leaves from radiation. This has interested me much, and has cost us great labour, as it has been a problem since the time of
Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
. But we have killed or badly injured a multitude of plants."


Content

The book is divided into the following chapters, each of which describes types of movements based on Darwin's specific experiments and their results. * Chapter 1: The Circumnutating Movements of Seedling Plants * Chapter 2: General Considerations of the Movements and Growth of Seedling Plants * Chapter 3: Sensitiveness of the Apex of the Radicle to Contact and to other Irritants * Chapter 4: The Circumnutating Movements of the several parts of Mature Plants * Chapter 5: Modified Circumnutation: Climbing Plants; Epinastic and Hyponastic Movements * Chapter 6: Modified Circumnutation: Sleep or Nyctitropic Movements, Their Use: Sleep of Cotyledons * Chapter 7: Modified Circumnutation: Nyctitropic or Sleep Movements of Leaves * Chapter 8: Modified Circumnutation: Movements excited by Light * Chapter 9: Sensitiveness of Plants to Light: its transmitted effects * Chapter 10: Modified Circumnutation: Movements excited by Gravitation * Chapter 11: Localised Sensitiveness to Gravitation, and its Transmitted Effects * Chapter 12: Summary and Concluding Remarks


Reception and influence

According to Darwin's son Francis, the book was "widely reviewed and excited much interest among the general public." A lead article in the London ''Times'' on 20 November 1880, generated notes from acquaintances and friends. The book received critical review by botanist Dr. Julius Wiesner of the University of Vienna. In the Preface to the Da Capo Press Edition of the original book, Pickard asserts that "If asked to choose the scientific report which most clearly marks the beginning of the modern study of plant growth, a great many botanists would select Charles Darwin's ''The Power of Movement in Plants''." She reviews the influence of Darwin's techniques here on later research by
Boysen Jensen Boysen may refer to: People * Boysen (surname), list of people with the surname Other uses * Boysen Dam, rockfill dam in Wyoming, U.S. * Boysen Reservoir, reservoir formed by Boysen Dam * Boysen State Park, public recreation area surrounding the ...
,
Frits Went Friedrich August Ferdinand Christian Went ForMemRS (June 18, 1863 – July 24, 1935) was a Dutch botanist. Went was born in Amsterdam. He was professor of botany and director of the Botanical Garden at the University of Utrecht. His eldest ...
, and others that ultimately led to the discovery of
auxin Auxins (plural of auxin ) are a class of plant hormones (or plant-growth regulators) with some morphogen-like characteristics. Auxins play a cardinal role in coordination of many growth and behavioral processes in plant life cycles and are essenti ...
as the growth principle and notes that Darwin pioneered the use of the
coleoptile Coleoptile is the pointed protective sheath covering the emerging shoot in monocotyledons such as grasses in which few leaf primordia and shoot apex of monocot embryo remain enclosed. The coleoptile protects the first leaf as well as the growing ...
(which in Darwin's time was called a
cotyledon A cotyledon (; ; ; , gen. (), ) is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant, and is defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to appear from a germinating seed." The numb ...
) in plant growth studies.Pickard, Barbara Gillespie, pages v–xviii, preface to


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Power of Movement in Plants, The 1880 non-fiction books Botany books Books by Charles Darwin 1880 in biology English-language books John Murray (publishing house) books