| View Larger Image | The Lives of Ants | Hardcoverby Laurent Keller (Author), Elisabeth Gordon (Author)
| List Price: | $27.95 | | Price: | $20.40 | | You Save: | $7.55 (27%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Oxford University Press, USA | | Edition: | 1st Edition | | Page Count: | 256 Pages | | Publication Date: | April 25, 2009 | | Sales Rank: | 491,963st |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780199541867
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Since time immemorial, human beings have been fascinated by ants, amazed by them, intrigued and captivated by them. With numerous black-and-white images and eight pages of color plates, The Lives of Ants provides a state-of-the-art look at what we now know about these fascinating creatures, portraying a world that is rich and full of surprises, one which, even after decades of observation, is still full of unsolved mysteries. The authors illuminate the world of the ant, shedding light on such topics as the ant's impressive abilities in direction finding and quite amazing ingenuity when it comes to building their nests, finding supplies, or exploiting other members of the animal kingdom. They show, too, that they are capable of aggression and violence, which can disturb the apparent peace of their colonies and embroil them in fratricidal or matricidal strife. Even their sexual arrangements are at times quite strange. In this area, as in many others, they display marked originality. Readers also discover that ants are walking bundles of secretory glands (they have about forty of them), which enable them to emit between ten and twenty different pheromones, each of which has its own "meaning." Some are produced by workers for recruiting their sisters or for alerting them to danger. Others are used for marking territory, for identifying members of their colony or conversely for detecting foreigners, and for indicating the location of food. In addition, ants can also emit sound signals, made of a high-pitched squeak, and they can even dance, though not as intricately or as well as bees. The Lives of Ants combines natural history with molecular biology, genetics, and even the latest developments in robotics, to explore the remarkable societies of ants, revealing the secrets of their mysterious lives. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 3 reviews)
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fascinating read  5 Stars
May 18, 2009
This book translates the hard core professional stuff to the language of an (oterwise interested) reader. It is really amazing how this creatures cope and how successful they are in evolutionary terms.
Laszlo
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An interesting book for anyone by Mehmet Tarzi (Istanbul, Turkey) 5 Stars
May 17, 2009
The authors have managed to explain the complex scientific nature of ants, and their evolution, in a very concise and interesting manner for any reader from any background who is intrigued by evolution. The wonderful examples that they point out paint a complete picture of the interesting lives of ants and how they have managed to create such organized societies. We get to learn the various ingenious techniques by which these small creatures have managed to dominate the world and have such an impact on the world. I am not at all a scientist, but this is a very interesting book for anyone from any background.
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Interesting but Flawed by The Pilgrim (Seattle, WA)  2 Stars
May 12, 2009
Much of the subject matter is interesting but the book suffers from a stiff academic style and a sub-par translation.
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