Tales from the Ant World
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
“In Mr. Wilson ants have found not only their Darwin but also their Homer.” —Economist
In Tales from the Ant World, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson takes us on a thrilling myrmecological tour across continents and through time, inviting us into his decades-long scientific obsession with ants. Animating his observations with personal stories, Wilson hones in on twenty-five ant species to explain how these creatures talk, smell, taste, and crucially, how they fight to determine dominance. Richly illustrated throughout with depictions of ant species and photos from Wilson’s own expeditions, Tales from the Ant World is a fascinating personal account from one of our greatest scientists—and a necessary volume for any lover of the natural world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wilson (Genesis: On the Deep Origin of Societies), a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Harvard emeritus professor of entomology, delivers an illuminating work filled with insights into his specialty subject: ants. Hoping to "reach students even 10 years old is not too young interested in the prospect of a scientific career," Wilson presents his lifelong fascination with these insects, an interest that has taken him on research trips all over the globe, as an "adventure story." He explains how, in 1942, at the age of 13, he determined that the vacant lot next to his home in Mobile, Ala., held four species of ants; how in 1958, as a faculty member at Harvard, he set out to "learn the pheromone language" of fire ants; and how in 2011 he visited New Caledonia in search of the extremely rare New Caledonian bull ant, to perform one of the first "studies of rarity and extinction" involving an invertebrate. He also describes the fastest ants, the slowest ants, ants that are gardeners, and ants that are ranchers, always placing his findings in an evolutionary context. Wilson's passion for his subject, for the scientific method, and for the natural world comes through clearly in this enjoyable survey.
