Shape analysis offers great potential for applications in diverse areas, from materials science to biology and neuroscience. Including numerical tools for characterization, this new edition presents the most advanced imaging techniques for the analysis of general biological shapes, such as cells, tissues, organs, and organisms. Various chapters review the main approaches for shape classification. Although focused on two-dimensional shapes, which are more effectively handled by current technology, the text also covers basic concepts and techniques for three-dimensional shapes. These methods offer a rich resource for the computational characterization and classification of biological shapes.Visit http: //www.vision.ime.usp.br/~cesar/shape/ for Useful Software, Databases, and Videos