From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Tue Oct 23 2001 - 08:27:46 MDT
From: "Brian D Williams" <talon57@well.com>
> E.O. Wilson who is probably the worlds ranking expert put out a
> huge volume on ants just recently, several reviewers called it the
> definitive work.
No "probably" about it, Brian.
Wilson wrote the comprehensive and encyclopedic Pulitzer-winning book _The
Ants_
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674040759/104-2041510-8316732
...and followed it with a more exciting (less bland?) team effort:
_Journey to the Ants : A Story of Scientific Exploration_
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0674485262/glance/1
04-2041510-8316732
by Bert Holldobler, Edward Osborne Wilson
Used Price: $4.99
Paperback Reprint edition (September 1995)
Belknap Pr; ISBN: 0674485262 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.81 x 9.10 x 7.96
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"Look to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise," says the
proverb. Bert Hölldobler and E.O. Wilson have joined together to tell how they
took this advice and to share the fruits of their wisdom. As Nature said, they
"have done for ants what Levi's did for denim." Not just a good-parts version
of their magisterial, Pulitzer-winning The Ants, Journey is also a double
autobiography--the history of how early enthusiasm developed into an
enormously fruitful scientific collaboration. "We, having entered our bug
period as children, were blessed by never being required to abandon it," the
authors write. Their devotion to their chosen field shines through.
Journey to the Ants gives an outstanding overview of the enormous variety and
fascination of myrmecology, from the primitive bulldog ants of Australia to
the complexities of weaver ant societies, slave-making ants and agriculture,
army ants, and the social parasites concealed within anthills. There is an
appendix with practical instructions for collecting individual ants or whole
colonies, dead or alive. Hölldobler and Wilson clearly want other children to
follow in their footsteps, growing from simple bug love to insights into evolu
tion and society. --Mary Ellen Curtin
--- --- --- --- ---
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment
We move into a better future in proportion as science displaces superstition.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 08:11:35 MST