Customer Reviews

Chemical Communication: The Language of Pheromones (Scientific American Library)

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Easy to read overview of pheromones, a variety of chemical molecules that help sperm cells find (ie, move in the direction of) egg cells, male animals find females and vice versa, as a signal for a male fish to deposit his sperm over recently released eggs, as an alarm signal for an entire group of animals, as a signal for a male hamster to mate with a female, as a territorial mark, etc, etc. This reference provides the general reader with some background in a variety of physiological and zoological areas. Although not fully explored, the existence of pheromone-guided actions, provides an effective mechanism for creatures, both ancient and modern, with limited nervous systems to exhibit a variety of complex behaviors.

This book is another example of Scientific American making technology accessable to people in other fields. Good broad coverage of a fascinating and complex subject that explains some of the ramificaions of science and its effect on our daily lives. Since the book was published there have been additional discoveries but the underlying explanitions are still relevant and exciting.

Chemical Ecology is a relatively new science that blends chemistry, biology and behavioral science in order to understand chemical interactions of things in nature. Agosta provides readers with a broad overview of chemistry in nature in a fascinating format that requires only interest in science to appreciate and only basic knowledge of chemistry and biology to understand. Like Agosta's recent book, Thieves, Decievers and Killers, this book strives to give a broad look at the world of chemical interaction. Unlike it, however, Chemical Communication offers a more technical approach utilizing many interesting diagrams, photos and drawings of chemical structures, while maintaining narrative like readability.