When it was originally published in 1973, George Land's Grow or Die was met with both acclaim and controversy. Today, Land's theory of transformation, which he introduced in Grow or Die, has become a cornerstone in the strategic planning and organizational transformation of major corporations. This new edition of Grow or Die re-introduces Land's classic theory.

At the root of the principle of transformation lies a single concept: growth -the most basic and universal of drives through which says Land, all biological, physical, chemical, psychological, and cultural processes are intrinsically equivalent. Thus, the author claims, we manifest this universal drive on levels extrinsically different from, but intrinsically the same as, our evolutionary ancestors-on levels reaching fully across the continuum of human activity today. Land applies his theory to a wide range of unexpected and revealing paradoxes of human behavior as well. How we can indulge in both self- sacrifice and sadism, seek both security and danger, produce both humor and ridicule, create both beauty and ugliness. be capable of both love and hate - these apparent contradictions are rationalized with amazing ease in terms of transformation theory and the concept of universal growth. And, in an intriguing examination of the problems of evolution, Land explains why species don't adapt to their environments nearly so much as they adapt their environments to themselves.

Grow or Die gives all of us - industrial psychologists, behavioral scientists, managers and curiosity seekers - a way of understanding change-a way of dealing with it rather than fighting it. Grow or Die revisits one of the most significant theories of human behavior - and finds it as challenging, thought-provoking, and relevant as ever.

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BOOK REVIEW

Saturday Review (A main selection of the Saturday Review Book Club)

The recent deciphering of the structure and composition of deoxyribonucleic acid -DNA -not only showed that the vast diversity of life depended solely upon sequences of two pairs of four nucleic acids, but also produced a major upheaval in biology, genetics, and evolutionary theory. Now, it is clear, it is about to have the same effect in psychology, philosophy, and the social sciences. One need look no further than Jacques Monod's Chance and Necessity, which two years ago caused a sensation in Europe and America, to understand how the molecular biologists have shaken traditional rationalizations about man and his place in the universe. But if any lingering doubts remain about the passing of the old order they should now be dispelled by George Land's Grow or Die: The Principle of Transformation.

Here, in this well-illustrated and excellently written volume, the author has taken on an even more formidable task than Monod's, for while Monod spent much of his time demolishing old philosophies and comparatively little time sketching the start of new ones, Land is attempting nothing less than the creation of an enormous intellectual synthesis, one which applies to the entire natural world, from the most transient subatomic particles to the broadest manifestations of human behavior.

This synthesis Land calls "Transformation Theory" and of it he writes:'The theory of transformation is an attempt to reunite the artificial with the natural, philosophy with psychology, psychology with biology, science with art, and emotion with reason. Through it we can acquire an understanding of not only the self-actualizing acts of Man, but also his unbalanced and destructive behavior -- a dichotomy that has long preoccupied psychology."

In short, the author proposes a grand design, so breathtaking in scope that it can only be described as Aristotelian. That he sets himself such a task is a mark of his audacity. That he goes so far toward achieving it is a mark of his daring imagination, his formidable erudition, and his equally formidable intellectual powers. His approach is interdisciplinary and system-theoretical. At the root of the principle of transformation lies a single concept; growth. Impelled by this most basic and universal of drives, says Land, all biological, physical, chemical, psychological and cultural processes are intrinsically equivalent. Thus, in his words, "Man, as a continuation of the evolutionary process, manifests this universal drive of growth on levels extrinsically different from, but intrinsically the same as his physical and biological forebears." In other words, the so-called "higher" activities of mankind --art, music, mathematics, architecture --as well as the "baser" activities -war, hypocrisy, cruelty, destruction -- are no more or less mysterious than the physical and chemical and biological elements from which they spring and to which they are analogous.

In a section dealing with "The Enigmas of Man" the author applies his principles to some of humanity's oldest paradoxes. How can the same creature indulge in both self-sacrifice and sadism, seek both security and danger, produce both humor and ridicule, create both beauty and ugliness, be capable of both love and hate? In terms of transformation theory and of the concept of universal growth, these apparent contradictions fall into place with amazing ease. Other intractable questions are considered and these too lose their mystery when examined under the brilliant scientific light of the new theory. In an intriguing new view of the problems of evolution, Land ingeniously demonstrates the startling concept that species do not adapt to their environments nearly so much as they adapt their environments to themselves. And in another fascinating discussion, he shows that the whole question of artistic creation is an aspect of "Ectogenic Evolution" -- an extension .of the concepts of genetic information to "data" stored outside the organism : as well as internally. The painter, the composer, the poet, are all part of man's ongoing evolution where the storage of "genetic" information is external rather than internal.

With ideas which are so heretical and a viewpoint which is so broad based, Grow or Die: The Principle of Transformation is likely to be not only one of the most significant books of our time but one of the most hotly debated. Some philosophers and scientists are sure to rake the new book over the coals. One thing is certain: no one will ignore it. Grow or Die: The Principle of Transformation, is a tremendously important and brilliantly original work as well as clear and detailed exposition of an extraordinary new concept. Perhaps most significant of all, it is a volume that invites the reader to join in an exciting new exploration. As the author explains, "This is a book to be used; to be argued with, to be expanded, and to be exemplified -by you as author-reader."