Customer Reviews

For Love of Insects

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3 star:		(1)
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Imagine beetles ejecting defensive sprays as hot as boiling water; female moths holding their mates for ransom; caterpillars disguising themselves as flowers by fastening petals to their bodies; termites emitting a viscous glue to rally fellow soldiers--and you will have entered an insect world once beyond imagining, a world observed and described down to its tiniest astonishing detail by Thomas Eisner. The story of a lifetime of such minute explorations, For Love of Insects celebrates the small creatures that have emerged triumphant on the planet, the beneficiaries of extraordinary evolutionary inventiveness and unparalleled reproductive capacity.

To understand the success of insects is to appreciate our own shortcomings, Eisner tells us, but never has a reckoning been such a pleasure. Recounting exploits and discoveries in his lab at Cornell and in the field in Uruguay, Australia, Panama, Europe, and North America, Eisner time and again demonstrates how inquiry into the survival strategies of an insect leads to clarifications beyond the expected; insects are revealed as masters of achievement, forms of life worthy of study and respect from even the most recalcitrant entomophobe. Filled with descriptions of his ingenious experiments and illustrated with photographs unmatched for their combination of scientific content and delicate beauty, Eisner's book makes readers participants in the grand adventure of discovery on a scale infinitesimally small, and infinitely surprising.

NOT ALL WORDS. PICTURES TOO !!!!!!!

For Love of Insects

Thomas Eisner
Foreword by Edward O. Wilson

Although insects are not usually the stars of popular-science writing, this engaging look at how one scientist studies their lives may add them to the most-requested lists of science- and animal-loving readers.
--Nancy Bent, Booklist

For Love of Insects is especially valuable because it explains the steps missing from the research reports in Nature and Science: [Eisner] tells the story from first noticing a bug on a walk in the woods, through experiments and analytical chemistry, to a final understanding of each phenomenon...For Love of Insects is a fascinating introduction to a world we poor humans--barely able to detect most chemicals--seldom notice.
--Jonathan Beard, New Scientist [UK]

[Eisner's] new book is a personal memoir of a lifetime in science, engagingly written and stunningly illustrated with photographs of insects doing astonishing things...What makes Eisner a world-class entomologist is not access to million-dollar scientific instruments, but a mind that never stops asking 'Why?'
--Chet Raymo, Boston Globe

This is one of the best nature titles in the last several years.
--Kim Long, Bloomsbury Review

[P]repare to be amazed. Brimming with enthusiasm, Eisner reveals a world of unbelievable majesty and complexity in the simplest of insects. The photographs alone are worth the price of the book, but the text crackles with the electricity of a brilliant genius at work, as Eisner leads the reader from simple observation to major scientific breakthrough. In fact this book should be required reading for every biology student because it illuminates the basic principle that passion and curiosity are the twin pillars of all great science.
--David Lukas, Los Angeles Times

The world has eagerly awaited these enchanting tales of insect life, brimming with discovery, insight, and wry humor. They're a master entomologist's masterwork. The photographs are also extraordinary, both illuminating and exquisitely beautiful.
--Diane Ackerman, Cornell University

I don't know whether I like the text or the photographs of For Love of Insects better. The former is brilliant, the product of the dean of chemical ecology and a world-renowned expert on insects. The latter are spectacular, the work of an outstanding photographer -- once again Tom Eisner. No naturalist or natural scientist will want to be without this book. Indeed, if everyone would take the time to read it and look at the amazing pictures our society would benefit greatly from an enhanced appreciation of the insect world.
--Paul Ehrlich, President, Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University

Love of insects? Hell, that's barely the half of it! Better Tom Eisner had called this book Love of Life and the Lively of progeny and all provenance! With boundless verve and grace and marvel and delight, Tom Eisner proves himself, across these dazzling pages, to be one of the all-time great biophiliacs. Ah, the blessing, for the rest of us, to be alive alongside him!
--Lawrence Weschler, Director of the New York Institute for the Humanities and author of Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder

There are few books which present the fullness of a life in science as powerfully, as modestly, and as enchantingly as this one. The excitement of Tom Eisner's fundamental investigations are mingled with vivid descriptions of his many other loves and enthusiasms--for music and literature no less than for the natural world--in seamless and beautiful prose. For Love of Insects is not only a delight to read, but, with its amazing photographs, a visual feast, too.
--Oliver Sachs, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

VERY interesting to read, does not condescend but at the same time does not leave the layperson baffled. Well done. Enthusiastically written and modular--if you skip chapters no impact.

HIGHLY recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in scientific method, insects, and biological sciences.

First thing you do when you get a new entomology book is thumb through the pictures. And you will enjoy the pictures in this book.

But while many books have little to offer after the pictures, Eisner gives you lively, first hand narratives on how he discovered many secrets to the private lives of insects.

One of the first little mysteries Eisner discusses is how he developed his nose for benzoquinone detection at an early age and how he put it to good use in discovering how species of cockroaches use them for defense.

There are many such stories in this book that will be a delight to people who like to study insects.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in nature, whether they are the highly-trained professional biologist, the aspiring naturalist, or even the person who likes to watch what goes on in their back yard. Eisner's book unlocks some of the best kept secrets of the insect world, and it does so in a way that is easy to understand and highly enjoyable to read. I previously had no interest in studying insects (my professional interest generally include vertebrates), but this book has helped me to gain an appreciation for them. I could not put it down!

For those people lucky enough to meet Dr. Eisner, they will know that he is a very intelligent, very humble man. Dr. Eisner has devoted his life to studying insects, and his passion comes across in his words and his photographs. It is difficult to get this man to speak about his accomplishments, and this book gives the reader a wonderful opportunity to get to know one of the greatest biologists of this century, and learn why he has earned that title.

The photographs are exquisite and they alone are worth buying the book. The stories are fascinating tales that seem like they should be science fiction, yet they are science fact. An enlightening book for those that fear "creepy crawlies" as to why these creatures deserve respect, even if they are still worth fearing.

Thomas Eisner is J. G. Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology at Cornell University and his life long fascination of the insect world has blessed us with an extraordinary, in-depth knowledge of bugs and their awesome capabilities, esp., in chemical defenses which have led to the discovery of many helpful medicines, etc.

Eisner's many beautiful color photos and micro-photography turn this book into a coffee-table txt book on insect ecology and this is worth the price of admission on just that aspect alone.

The famous sociobiologist/entomologist, friend and research collaborator of Eisner, E. O. Wilson, "Diversity of Life", et al., wrote the Foreword to this book and gives a good summation on the focus of this book: "The many behaviors he [Eisner] has discovered and explained, and their implementation by life around us, amazing in a variety and precision, are the worthy focus of this book." Well put.

After the Foreword is a great quote about insects in general: "What makes things baffling is their degree of complexity, not their sheer size... a star is simpler than an insect." From: [Martin Rees, "Exploring Our Universe and Others," Scientific American, December 1999]

In the Prologue, Eisner has given a great appraisal of the insect world in: "They have succeeded in one major respect where humans have failed. They are practitioners of sustainable development. Although they are the primary consumers of plants, they do not merely exploit plants. They also pollinate them, thereby providing a secure future, both for themselves and for their plant partners." Indeed, symbiosis, harmony...

...And, Eisner on his hopes for this fine book: "If this book contributes in any way toward bolstering the preservationist spirit, as I hope it might, it will have fulfilled it's purpose."

It has certainly "edified" my preservationist spirit and will no doubt do the same for others!

Once, we were warned: "Don't fool with Mother Nature". It's our good fortune that Thomas Eisner ignores that counsel. Not only does he disdain it, he turns it on its head. He probes, he directs, he examines and he dissects. When he's done, he sits down to convey to us what he's found. Between what he's learned and how he explains it to us, we are the richer for his refuting the old admonition. Mother Nature, while exposed in this book, is hardly violated. Instead, she parades her wonders before us, dazzling us with the powers of her miniscule offspring. In a book about little beasts, Eisner has triumphed in adding a new dimension to the world we inhabit.

Eisner was one of those lucky children whose parents didn't rein him in. As refugees, they settled in Uruguay where young Thomas was able to wander in fields and jungles. He developed an affinity for insects, particularly beetles. Haldane's quip, "an inordinant fondness for beetles" is entirely apt. Early in his academic career in the US, he and E.O. Wilson made a "bug collecting tour" around the "Lower 48". Who better to partner with in such a quest? From those early explorations, Eisner has been often in the field, observing, collecting, testing. Although many of the insects resented his presence, they continued to perform for him.

The performance is a symphony of chemicals. Many insects display riotous colour schemes. This would seem suicidal in a world where birds, unlike mammal predators, have good chromatic vision. Yet most of the insect clowns pass through life unmolested. Eisner explains that many insects are walking chem labs. Various chemicals reside in glands - chemicals that send birds tumbling, toads vigorously spitting out prey, or sending other insects packing. These chemicals may be oozed from small pores, issue as droplets or, in the more explosive cases, shot with inerring accuracy at a tormentor. If you pinch one on a particular spot, the beetle will deluge your fingers with a burning liquid. Darwin learned the power of these chemicals in while collecting. Innocently putting one in his mouth while trying to collect a new specimen, he spat it out instantly, losing the lot.

These compounds are not just something that tastes or smell bad. In some cases they are virulent toxins. Cyanide isn't something you'd carry around in your pocket, but the XXX beetle knows how to send a spray of it from its body. Others disperse steroids that can be heart-stoppers. And the heart stopped could be yours. Usually, however, the victims are inattentive predators or innovative ones. Today's travel levels and the trade in pet species from distant lands, bring together creatures unadapted to one another. Pet lizards fed on local insects have no idea of their lethal capabilities. Today's $50 pet may be stretched out in its cage only moments after ingesting something as common as a "firefly".

Eisner's coverage of insect novelty is immensely knowledgeable. He explains what he observed, what experiments he tried with his creatures and the results, and what it all means in evolutionary terms and for life in general. It's an immense project, yet his personalised account keeps you wondering what will come next. He's an evocative writer on what might be an arcane subject. His enthusiasm is infective and it's aided by the stunning photographs that visualise the text. Whatever you may have thought about insects before reading this, you will come away with a whole new outlook. Just remember to be cautious about putting one in your mouth. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Just to add a note to the other (rave) reviews: this book is remarkable for its exquisite lucidity and its editing, which in this day and age are almost incredible. Ear mark this author and this press.

Anyone paging through this charming book will be captivated by the stellar quality of the photos and by what they show: the essence of discovery. In my case, as a field biologist, they range from fascinating closeups of a group of animals about which I know least, to visual demonstrations of the truth of Eisner's lifelong findings. And what stays with you after reading his often humorous (always engaging and yet self-effacing) accounts of genuine discovery, are those very discoveries: the findings. I can recall, as a grad student in the 1960's, receiving "Science" from my mailbox, and hearing friends call out: "Eisner's got another one". We would then flip through the magazine to the richly illustrated article and devour it with our eyes and curiosity. His reports were thrilling - that anyone could take the mystery of nature and repeatedly send us monthly supplements of such an array of utterly-convincing revelations of evolution's torturous path! Now in color and vivid retrospect, Tom lets us revisit these discoveries, and adds the anecdotal credits of his many friends and collaborators to remind us that no worthy endeavor takes place without the open cooperation of ideas and efforts. Brilliant!