A Dazzle of Dragonflies [Hardcover]

Forrest L. Mitchell (Author), James L. Lasswell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Dragonflies, those "mosquitohawk" denizens of wetlands, are the subject of this beautiful book. The authors, scientists at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, needed to identify dragonflies while working on a water--quality project. They invented a technique for using a flatbed scanner to create extremely detailed images of living dragonflies, which accurately reproduced their colors and anatomical details, and they created a Web site to display these images. This book grew out of their desire to promote greater awareness and understanding of these aerial predators. The first few chapters cover the folklore and fossil history of dragonflies, along with their natural history and daily lives. Watching dragonflies through binoculars and collecting them for study (much easier said than done!) each receive a section. Two extremely interesting chapters complete the text: one on water gardening to attract dragonflies, including rearing larvae in containers, and the other on photographic and digital scanning techniques. This is a passionate look at a ubiquitous group of insects. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“The digital scans of living dragonflies offer an unparalleled view of these beautiful insects. . . Authors Mitchell and Lasswell have assembled an enormous amount of useful and interesting information on dragonflies as well as offering practical advise for field and laboratory work”--John and Gloria Tveten, authors of Our Life with Birds: A Nature Trails Book

(John and Gloria Tveten, authors of Our Life with Birds: A Natur )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: TAMU Press (April 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585444596
• ISBN-13: 978-1585444595
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biology > Entomology
  • #66 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Insects & Spiders

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, August 15, 2005

By 

speak04 (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dazzle of Dragonflies (Hardcover)

As soon as I heard this book was being released, I was dying to buy it. The authors have pioneered a method of scanning dragonflies on standard flatbed scanners and have produced some magnificent images of these insects, which they display online. As an entomologist and a woman fascinated by dragonflies, I have always admired their work and knew this book would be gorgeous if nothing else. I was not disappointed. The photos and scans of dragonflies in this book are spectacular. Even people who are squeamish of bugs could learn to appreciate the beauty of these magnificent insects after reading this book. Aside from the lovely images, the book also contains some very interesting information about dragonflies. I am particularly fond of the chapter called Dragonfly Tales, which covers dragonfly myths and folklore in more detail than I've seen in any other dragonfly book to date. Other chapters cover information rarely included in other books such as imaging, gardening for, and collecting dragonflies. It also discusses more commonly covered topics such as dragonfly life histories, structure, evolution, and development.

This is an impressive collection of amazing images and interesting, rarely published information. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in dragonflies, novice and expert alike.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a gorgeous book, December 22, 2005

By 

J. Kosowicz (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dazzle of Dragonflies (Hardcover)

This is a fantastic book - everything you wanted to know about dragonflies, with pictures! There are pages and pages of gorgeous photographs and lots of interesting information about dragonflies, from science to folklore. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with interest in these beautiful insects.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Topnotch coffee table book, December 23, 2006

By 

Jerry K. Hatfield "dragonhunter" (Lubbock, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Dazzle of Dragonflies (Hardcover)

Texas nature writer, Ro Wauer, reviewed this book in July 2005 and described it as a book on dragonflies and damselflies. Well, the former is the case but the latter does not apply. The authors themselves make no such claims, but suggest any use of damselfly photos or references to them is merely for comparison's sake. That being said, the book is excellent and unique for format and photographic technique used. The flatbed scanned photos of scintillating dragonflies up-close-and-personal, is one of a kind. Finally, there is a book that is beginning to give dragonflies their due as relates to their splendid detail, coloring, and overall beauty! I was particularly impressed as well with the etymological study on the word "dragonfly"; I've not seen this very interesting and most imformative material presented in any other book on dragonflies until now. The book is well worth the price many times over. In fact, don't just get one copy! It is destined to be a classic gift item that will be treasured for years.