The shape of the human being as a function of time

Abstract

It is shown that the change of shape of the male human being from the 5th month of foetal life to maturity may be represented by a continuous one-parameter set of transformations. The method of analysis described makes it possible to compute the rate of change of shape of the human being as a function of position and age. A class of graded transformations is defined, and it is shown that the transformations of human development belong to it. The rate of change of shape of the human being falls off progressively in time from the 5th month of foetal life to maturity.