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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All About Ants, July 22, 2005
This book is an exploration into all aspects of ant life, written for general readers. Holldobler and Wilson, who wrote the massive scientific reference volume, The Ants, felt that there was also a demand for a less formal book about ants that ordinary readers might enjoy reading from cover-to-cover. In this book, they describe not only the lives of ants and ant colonies, but also how their own interests in ants developed. The book covers such topics as the dominance of ants, the life and death of the colony, the colony as a superorganism, ant communication, relations between ants within and between colonies, ancient ants, ant parasites, army ants, and ants and the environment. They also include a brief section on how to study ants. The book is illustrated both black-and white photos and sets of color photographic plates. There is an index, but surprisingly, there is no bibliography or recommendations for further reading; presumably, their main recommendation would be to consult their reference volume, The Ants.
The first chapter in the book, The Dominance of Ants, stood out the most for me. In this chapter, the authors note that ants are overwhelmingly the dominant species on earth. By weight, the world ant population equals the world human population, and represents half or more of the world's insect biomass. These ten thousand trillion creatures are spread throughout the world's habitats, from the Amazon to Finland, from deserts to rain forests. With that in mind, the study of ants is clearly well-worth taking up. Why are ants so populous and successful? As the authors argue, one reason is their social nature. They put the survival of the colony above their own individual survival. Nevertheless, through quirks in their reproductive behavior, this cooperative behavior still maximizes the potential for their own genetic material to be passed on to future generations. Just because they are social, however, doesn't mean that all is peaceful within the colony between individual ants, as Holldobler and Wilson point out. These topics and many others are described in language that is very accessible to general readers. I found myself not only better informed about ants after reading this book, but also with a much greater sense of respect for such remarkable creatures.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A magnificent pilgrimage through time and space, January 25, 2001
This review is from: Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration (Paperback)
There are only a few writers who truly capture the natural world's complex structure, presenting it in a readable manner. Edward Wilson is one of these. Here, he's joined by Bert Holldobler in picturing one of our world's more enigmatic creatures - the ants. This book is a joy to read, whether you seriously study evolution or simply want a grander picture of life's mysteries. This book is a collector's item in reviewing what is known about ants and calling on students to consider how much remains to be studied. The ants are one of the dominant forms of life on this planet. They've spread to nearly every environmental niche, adapting their habits and colony structure successfully. Wilson and Holldobler willingly convey their awe at this variety to anyone wishing to share it. Among the amazing accounts they relate, perhaps two stand out. The finding of the earliest known fossil specimens by a New Jersey family, and the night-foraging ants of Australia. Holldobler and Wilson's journeys have taken them to remote sites around the planet. They have a fine sense of how to bring the reader into their camps and excursions, sharing their discoveries and their tribulations. Along the way, we learn how ants form their colonies, breed, forage, make war and enslave or absorb their fellows or other creatures. "Ants all look the same to the naked eye" they state, then show what a fallacy it is to continue believing that outlook. Beginning as solitary ground wasps, the ants have become one of the most complex social creatures in life. Their colonies range from simple bivouacs to huge structures. They can remove tonnes of soil to build a nest or range over extensive territories, terrifying even people with waves of migrating insects. Anyone seeking to understand even a little of the diversity of life should own this book.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great teaching aid for non-science teachers., July 17, 1999
By A Customer
This book is easy to read. Could easily be used by elementary, middle school, and secondary school teachers to prepare a number of interesting lessons and scientific projects. Not only can insects (ants in particular, of course) but society, community, non-linguistic communication, evolution, and putting the universe into a size perspective provides many areas for class discussion. "Ants are oblivious to human existence." An incredible statement that will spark great conversation. Ants do not even know we are here! And they wont miss us when we are gone. After we have destroyed our natural habitat, they will continue to live in their microwildernesses. Text also provides a brief chapter on how to collect and observe ants and ant colonies. I am a language teacher but found reading this text simple and interesting.
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