The Insect-Populated Mind: How Insects Have Influenced the Evolution of Consciousness [Paperback]

David Spooner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0761831754 | ISBN-13: 978-0761831754

In The Insect-Populated Mind, author David Spooner proposes a close connection between aspects of insect evolution and the human intellect. By examining seemingly disparate subjects, such as entomology, language, theory, genetics, astronomy, literature, and music, Spooner proves that synthesis is indeed possible. Once this fusion is achieved, the human species can be seen as connected not just to the great apes, but also via consciousness to metamorphic insects. While considering Richard Dawkins' and Susan Blackmore's expositions of memes, Spooner suggests that the concept of memes remains a peripheral understanding of religion and the arts. The book also presents arguments on the roots and nature of the mind in the work of Daniel Dennett and Steven Pinker.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Spooner is an Entomological Consultant and independent scholar. Dr. Spooner received his Ph.D. from Bristol University, England. Read more about David Spooner at his website www.davidspooner.freeservers.com..

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Hamilton Books (August 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761831754
• ISBN-13: 978-0761831754
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,664,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Spooner was a member of the National Biodiversity Committee for Scotland for a number of years, and founded Butterfly Conservation in East Scotland in 1995. His fascination with lepidoptera spans 30 years, and he is an advisor to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the successful rescue of the El Segundo blue butterfly on the dunes at LA Airport. As a result of this and other projects, he has been awarded the American Medal of Honor for Natural History and been inducted into the American Hall of Fame. He is an associate member of the Welsh Academy, and member of the Thoreau, Nabokov and Benjamin Constant Societies, together with honorary membership of the Fiat Lux Society at UC Santa Cruz. He is a member of the Writers Guild, and has recently been awarded the Congressional Medal for Literary Excellence.

He was born during the Second War across the water from Wales at West Kirby Cheshire, and went to the University at Leeds. There he was awarded one of the original post-War firsts in literature, following on from the previous couple gained by Jon Silkin and Richard Hoggart. He studied theatre and directed under Hugh Hunt from the Abbey Theatre and Stephen Joseph, founder of the modern theatre-in-the-round. His doctorate was gained at Bristol University in 1968 on the subject of World Writers and the Spanish Civil War and lectured at Kent University for 6 years, and for a spell at Penn State in the mid-1970s.
He brought out a number of key Scottish books by authors such as Tom Scott and Walter Perrie prior to Scottish devolution. He is now a full-time writer and ecologist, in 2006 discovering the first Small Skipper butterfly to be seen in Scotland for 171 years.