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| For Love of Insects | 
| Author: Thomas Eisner
Creator: Edward O. Wilson
Publisher: Belknap Press
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy Used: $9.94
You Save: $25.06 (72%)
New (8) from $26.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 263758
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 8.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0674011813
Dewey Decimal Number: 595.7
EAN: 9780674011816
ASIN: 0674011813
Publication Date: November 30, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: EX-LIBRARY; used item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned for refund. Buy with confidence - your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics!
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 26 | | NEXT » |
Outstanding from start to finish July 25, 2008
This is the first "insect" book I've seen that is told as a story. As such, it can be used as a reference book; but is delightful when read cover-to-cover. It is a combination biography, natural science, and how-scientists-find-out book. The engaging writing, clear descriptions, fascinating photos, and exacting descriptions of scientific research are rarely found in one volume.
For lovers of chemistry and the natural world June 23, 2008
It has been said that life is chemistry, and some says that chemistry is life. If you seek what molecules are behind the different defense systems in insects, this is the book. Excellent.
Jumping on the bandwagon February 3, 2008
Let me put in my two cents' worth, as well. This is a fabulous book even for those who aren't into bugs. Eisner is a warm and wonderful writer who's enthusiasm for insects is infectious. It inspired me to a) raise some cockroaches to study their behavior (and thereby risk divorce), and b) search for spiders by flashlight (and thereby risk neighborly opprobrium).
Buy the book, kick up, relax, and enter the surprisingly fascinating world of insects and chemistry.
For the Love of Insects, Indeed! May 2, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
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!
For Love of Insects January 31, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book to share the insect world as they protect themselves from their environments.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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