New Books Network Oren Harman, "Metamorphosis: A Natural and Human History" (Basic Books, 2025)
Feb 8, 2026
Oren Harman, historian of science and author of Metamorphosis: A Natural and Human History, blends personal stories with historical sweep. He explores immortal jellyfish and reverse aging, starfish and split identities, neural rewiring across life stages, and how metamorphosis appears in art, philosophy, culture, and parenthood. Short, curious, and wide-ranging.
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Immortal Jellyfish Example
- Harman describes the immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis) that can revert an adult medusa to its juvenile planula in response to stress.
- This cycle can repeat, making the genome effectively immortal though individuals still die by predation or capture.
Definition Is Intentionally Fuzzy
- Metamorphosis is best defined as dramatic post-embryonic development, but that definition is intentionally fuzzy.
- The fuzziness shows how judgments about change depend on perspective and historical frameworks.
Dual Living Forms From One Genome
- A starfish's larva and adult live simultaneously despite identical genomes and starkly different forms.
- Human language lacks categories to capture this dual existence of a single genetic identity.
