Book Review: Nature as Designer

This unusual book, first published in Sweden in 1961 under the title “Naturen som Formgivare,” was written by a noted Swedish surgeon who has long been devoted to an intensive study of design in living plants. In this work he has brought together some beautifully executed photographs of unusual plant materials which should be of interest to artists, designers, sculptors, architects, teachers, students, and naturalists. The materials come from all parts of the world and are accompanied by charming accounts of the subjects. There are acorns and lichens, seedpods and mosses, grasses and sedges, spines and “horns,” flowers and seeds, plumes and parachutes, spirals and needles, all in a heterogeneous mixture that never fails to be of interest.