Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration

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Summary: Great teaching aid for non-science teachers.
Review: This book is easy to read. Could easily be used by elementary, middle school, and secondary school teachers to prepare a number of interesting lessons and scientific projects. Not only can insects (ants in particular, of course) but society, community, non-linguistic communication, evolution, and putting the universe into a size perspective provides many areas for class discussion. "Ants are oblivious to human existence." An incredible statement that will spark great conversation. Ants do not even know we are here! And they wont miss us when we are gone. After we have destroyed our natural habitat, they will continue to live in their microwildernesses. Text also provides a brief chapter on how to collect and observe ants and ant colonies. I am a language teacher but found reading this text simple and interesting.

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Summary: Evolution Throughout
Review: This book is quite a work. Fascinating. The description refers to the Biblical Proverb ""Look to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise" but the book is 100% evolution theory. Everything you could possibly want to know about ants except the spiritual is here. Too bad they missed the spiritual significance. It is on high school level not for children. If you're a Christian homeschooler you can use it for the facts and explain the holes in evolution theory. Easy to water down for younger children.

Rating:
Summary: Great teaching aid for non-science teachers.
Review: This book was pleasant and rewarding to read. I came to it via The Naturalist, then Consilience, next Biophilia. It's as well written as each of these, and it shares many broad themes with them. It's different, of course, in the narrow focus, and that yields a different kind of pleasure. Most remarkable to me were the following: the extreme refinements in co-evolution of certain symbiotic species, the genetic basis of the ant's social behavior, the power of Darwinian theory to explain social behavior, and simply the importance of ants. Another pleasure of the book is the occasional insights it offers into the authors' work habits and experimental methods. The book is easily accessible to the lay person. In fact, it's an easy read. The other books of his mentioned above are also excellent.

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Summary: Fascinating glimpse at extraordinary behavior
Review: This book was pleasant and rewarding to read. I came to it via The Naturalist, then Consilience, next Biophilia. It's as well written as each of these, and it shares many broad themes with them. It's different, of course, in the narrow focus, and that yields a different kind of pleasure. Most remarkable to me were the following: the extreme refinements in co-evolution of certain symbiotic species, the genetic basis of the ant's social behavior, the power of Darwinian theory to explain social behavior, and simply the importance of ants. Another pleasure of the book is the occasional insights it offers into the authors' work habits and experimental methods. The book is easily accessible to the lay person. In fact, it's an easy read. The other books of his mentioned above are also excellent.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating journey
Review: What a fantastic journey this book was! The myriad adaptations that these creatures have made to various different challenges is truly fascinating. The photos of different ant species and the many detailed behaviours are very exciting. I would recommend this book to anyone with the slightest bit of curiosity. My only complaint (and certainly not a criticism) is that the writing in this book is clearly aimed at a 12-14 age level. Others may find the descriptions of behaviours and experiments a tad facile...