Thomas Eisner is Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology at Cornell University. In 1994 he was awarded the National Medal of Science. His film Secret Weapons won the Grand Award at the New York Film Festival and was named Best Science Film by the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Review
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.
Summary
Independent Publisher Book Award for Best Science BookWinner of the 2003 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Award of the Association of American Publishers, Biology CategoryImagine 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."Prepare 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."-David Lukas, Los Angeles Times"A fascinating and highly unusual book ... Anyone fascinated by the endless diversity of nature, who prefers quirky fact to highfalutin theory or who simply likes to share someone else's passion, will find this book a delight."-Derek Bickerton, New York Times Book Review"There are few books which present the fullness of a life in science as powerfully, as modestly, and as enchantingly as this one ... For Love of Insects is not only a delight to read, but, with its amazing photographs, a visual feast, too."-Oliver Sacks, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Table of Contents
Foreword by Edward O. Wilson Prologue
1. Bombardier
2. Vinegaroons and Other Wizards
3. Wonders from Wonderland
4. Masters of Deception
5. Ambulatory Spray Guns
6. Tales from the Website
7. The Circumventers
8. The Opportunists
9. The Love Potion
10. The Sweet Smell of Success
Epilogue
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Illustration
Credits
