Book Review – For Love of Insects
If you want to photograph insects, it is always a good idea to learn more about them. For that reason, I have tried to read a book on them whenever I read a photography book. For those who are curious what the life of an entomologist is truly like, this is the best book I have seen.
This is not a reference book, but is instead more of a collection of stories. Eisner goes through the major projects he has worked on during his career and how they came about various discoveries.
After finishing this book, I do feel that I know a lot more about invertebrates, though I don’t know any specific details about invertebrates I am likely to see in my area.
The great thing about this book is it has caused me to question behavior that I see more. Why is this so? Why isn’t this bug attacking this other bug? Why is this bug just sitting out here in the open? Eisner talks about many of these topics. Although he talks about specific species, many of these same traits are shared.
For instance, I remembered that I often see pill bugs in the same place as spiders and centipedes. This has made me question whether the pill bugs use any secretions that make them unpalatable to both of them, or whether there are ‘enough pill bugs to go around’.
Although I would never be interested in going into the same detail as Eisner does in his experiments or getting deep into the chemical details, it does make me to want to try my own experiments just to see the results (and photograph them).
This is not an entomology text book, though I do feel it will make it easier for me to read one in the future. Most of all, it made me appreciate the complexity of the tiny life around us. Sometimes I really wonder whether we aren’t much more complex than insects – we’re just bigger.
I definitely recommend this book for those who would like a deeper understanding of the complexity and detail of the life around us.
No related posts.
Tags: book, eisner, Insects, love, review
I love this book. It’s a great example of science and how it’s really practiced. Eisner is a giant in his field.