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Sebastian Ritscher

TALES FROM THE ANT WORLD

Edward O. Wilson

Edward O. Wilson recalls his lifetime with ants - from his first boyhood encounters in the woods of Alabama to perilous journeys into the Brazilian rainforest.
"Ants are the most warlike of all animals, with colony pitted against colony... Their clashes dwarf Waterloo and Gettysburg," writes Edward O. Wilson in his most finely observed work in decades. In a myrmecological tour to such far-flung destinations as Mozambique and New Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico's Dauphin Island and even his parents' overgrown yard back in Alabama, Wilson thrillingly evokes his nine-decade-long scientific obsession with more than 15,000 ant species. Wryly observing that "males are little more than flying sperm missiles" or that ants send their "little old ladies into battle," Wilson eloquently relays his brushes with fire, army, and leafcutter ants, as well as more exotic species: the Matabele, Africa's fiercest warrior ants; Costa Rica's Basiceros, the slowest ants in the world; and New Caledonia's Myrmecia apicalis, the most endangered of them all. A personal account by one of our greatest scientists, Tales from the Ant World is an indispensable volume for any lover of the natural world. Edward O. Wilson is widely recognized as one of the world's preeminent biologists and naturalists. The author of more than thirty books, including Half-Earth, The Social Conquest of Earth, The Meaning of Human Existence, and Letters to a Young Scientist, Wilson is a professor emeritus at Harvard University and lives with his wife, Irene, in Lexington, Massachusetts.
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Published 2020-08-04 by Liveright

Comments

The world-renowned ant expert cleans out his desk, whichno surprisecontains many gems ... Pulitzer Prizewinning author and naturalist Wilson's writing on broader scientific subjects have won him awards and no lack of controversy. Now 90, largely retired from fieldwork and scholarship but an indefatigable writer, he has assembled scraps of autobiography and anecdotes on his favorite insect ... the content and quality of the writing is consistently top-notch. "

Readers seeking an accessible natural history on an often-misunderstood insect will appreciate Wilson's modest, conversational tone in this brief look at his lifetime of appreciating nature's small wonders.

"Tales From the Ant World" is full of just such amazement, most of it presented with the infectious enthusiasm that only a life-long teacher and popularizer like Wilson could muster. Read more...

profile of the author: E.O. Wilson at 90: The conservation legend shares dreams for the future Wilson's message is as strong as ever: Saving space for non-human life will save humanity. Read more...

Chinese Simplified: Citic ; Italian: Cortina ; Japanese: Newton Press ; Russian: Azobooka/Alipina ; Spanish: Editorial Planeta

[Wilson] delivers an illuminating work filled with insights into his specialty subject: ants. ... Wilson's passion for his subject, for the scientific method, and for the natural world comes through clearly in this enjoyable survey.

First serial (Chapter 20) in opinion section Read more...