Product Description
An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles is an authoritative reference in a breathtakingly beautiful volume, one that will leave every reader with a deeper understanding, appreciation, and--yes--fondness for these amazing creatures and their place in nature. In terms of numbers, beetles are the most successful creatures on earth: about 350,000 species of beetles have been described since 1758. They range from tiny to gigantic, occupy sundry habitats, and eat everything--plants, animals, and their own remains. An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles provides an engaging look at these magnificent yet poorly understood creatures and highlights the absolutely essential role they play in the dynamics of nearly every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. And, as this book beautifully demonstrates, the aesthetics of beetle design are amazing. The fantastic colors and shapes of these creatures warrant the gorgeous color photography lavished on them in this book.

Amazon.com Review
There is a story, possibly apocryphal, that an English cleric asked the noted evolutionist J.B.S. Haldane what could be inferred about the Creator from the works of nature. Haldane is reported to have replied, "An inordinate fondness for beetles."

! In fact, approximately one-fifth of all known species are beetles--350,000 and growing (and yours truly even discovered a beetle species in 1986)--yet most people know very little about this remarkable group of organisms. This is one of the best coffee-table books I have ever seen about the creepy critters, and the full-color photos of iridescent, brightly colored, or architecturally elaborate beetle gems is sure to instill an inordinate fondness for beetles among children, artists, and anyone with a love of nature.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 8 reviews)

Beautiful Photography of Beetles

I purchased this book for the photography but found the information contained within quite informative. Entomology is a hobby. One I get little time to indulge in. This book is an excellent addition to anyone's library on these beautiful insects.
March 15, 2007

Exquisite.

If someone said, "Ok, you're being sent to a colony on Jupiter's second moon and you only get to bring one picture book with you," this would be it. It is a stunning book. One reviewer mentioned being moved to tears, and it really is no joke. The photos of the beetles are gorgeous and the text is really well written.

People generally fear insects, regard them as pests, or don't bother thinking about them at all. Arthur Evans gives weight to what is frequently overlooked. Taking one order, Coleoptera (beetles), he uses it as a means to discuss the big picture on Earth--balance and biodiversity. Evans manages all of this with a sense of reverence and even spirituality that complements the statistics and hard data:

"...But viewing beetles simply as machines, without understanding their role in the ecosystem, is a narrow perspective that reflects intellectual, spatial, and temporal limitations. As the world's ecosystems continue to shrink in the wake of human exploitation--a direct result of our ever-burgeoning population--our approach to all the sciences must continue to evolve from an analysis of parts to a necessarily more holistic approach. We must learn to view beetles not as machines, but as conduits of energy flowing through the entire biosphere."

I'd always been fascinated by insects, but this book really honed my interest and since I bought it, it has inspired me to learn more about them and share what I've learned. I even had the great luck of meeting a weevil expert. Beetles are simply incredible little animals and I'm really glad that Evans has written a book about them that is so accessible and lovely.
July 19, 2005

The book's new website

The website for this book and the general topic is:
http://www.fond4beetles.com
December 21, 2004

Gorgeous and well-written--recommended

The photographs by Lisa Watson are the first thing to catch your eye about this beautifully produced book. The majority are of museum specimens, which oddly is what makes the pictures so attractive: we're used to seeing high quality pictures of wildlife, but the displays here juxtapose many different beetles and have more impact than wildlife shots would.

The pictures are beautiful but the text is high-quality too. The authors start by reciting some statistics on the number of beetle species. Linnaeus, two hundred and fifty years ago, described 654 species; and Fabricius added another 4,112 species between 1775 and 1801. By 1876 Gemminger and von Harold's catalog contained nearly 77,000 species; and when Junk and Schenkling's catalogue was completed, in 1940, it listed nearly 221,500 species. It's now estimated that there are 350,000 described beetle species. However, recent work by Terry Erwin, extrapolating from detailed studies of a small area, suggests that there are more than eight *million* species of beetle just in the tropics!

The rest of the book is a fairly detailed survey of beetles in all their aspects. The authors are enthusiasts as well as experts, and it shows in their writing, which is crisp, clear and engaging. They cover beetle anatomy, fossilized beetles, habitats and niches, the beetle life cycle, and mimicry. There is also substantial coverage of beetles and humans: naming, appearance in mythology, use as jewels (really!), a discussion of pest control, and use in education. The book has more scientific depth than is usual for a coffee table book, without sacrificing interest value.

There is a website that appears to be maintained by one of the authors (Evans) that contains some material from the book; I recommend you take a look if you are hesitating about buying this. I found it by searching for the book title using a standard search engine; when I looked it was on the Lorquin Entomological Society's website, but it may have moved.

Recommended.
January 16, 2001

Jaw-dropping beauty

This is one of the most gorgeous books I own. I look at these pictures, and I think that human beings could not dream up jewelry that touches the beauty of these creatures. It is utterly unbelievable! Every time I page through this book my jaw is open in disbelief. They are so breathtaking they almost bring tears to my eyes. Okay. Confession time. They HAVE brought tears to my eyes.
May 02, 2000

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