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The Super-organism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies
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| List Price: | £30.00 |
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Product Description
Based on remarkable research, eighteen years after the publication of "The Ants", this new volume expands our knowledge of social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps and termites). Superorganisms - tightly knit colonies of individuals, formed by altruistic co-operation, complex communication and division of labour - represent one of the basic stages of biological organisation, midway between the organism and the species. As the authors demonstrate, the study of the superorganism has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life has progressed from simple to complex forms. Visually spectacular, "The Superorganism" provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a few.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #14929 in Books
- Published on: 2009-01-16
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 544 pages
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
* BERT HOLLDOBLER, the Foundation Professor at Arizona State University and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Leibniz Prize, divides his time between Arizona and Germany. E.O. WILSON, a Harvard professor for nearly five decades, is the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes and the National Medal of Science.
Customer Reviews
Not quite "The Ants" but still very good.
Beautifully produced and illustrated. A great book even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of "The Ants". Perhaps slightly more polemical and less an objective account of ant societies and lives. BH & EOW are basically pushing a (very reasonable IMHO) line that it is the colony and not the individual ant that is the true unit of selection when looking at the more 'advanced' ant societies. Though which societies count as truly 'advance' they disagree between themselves. It is quite technical yet still very readable. In fairness so was "The Ants". A better Glossary would have helped eg defines 'ecology' but not 'elaiosome'. Ultimately if you're fascinated by ants then I can heartily recommend this book.
