Synopses & Reviews
View a video on Professor Wilson entitled "On the Relation of Science and the Humanities"
This book is a work of major importance for the development of environmental and behavioral biology; it covers the classification, evolution, anatomy, physiology, and behavior of the higher socialinsects--ants, social wasps and bees, and termites. Mr. Wilson reinterprets the knowledge of these insects through the concepts of modern biology, from biochemistry to evolutionary theory and population ecology.
Review
In comprehensiveness of scope and modernity of outlook The Insect Societiescan truly be said to be unique. For many years to come it will surely constitute a benchmark for allthose, professional and amateur alike, for whom the social insects offer one of the most compelling and fascinating pageants in all the world of nature. The book is likely to become a collector's item.
Review
The Insect Societiesgives an extraordinarily complete and up-to-date account of the natural history of social insects with their great proliferation of genera, species, andbehavioral types...In these fields modern genetics, selection theory, and biomathematics are being developed to explain the evolution of insect societies and their diversity both in size and in longevity. This is one of the growingpoints in the study of social insects and an undertaking to which Wilson is making important contributions.
Review
The book is well illustrated, and written in a clear direct style, with such specialist technical terms as Wilson feels obliged to uses explained in a glossary; evidently he is anxious to reach a wider audience thanthat provided by professional entomologists--as indeed the book deserves to do...This handsome book will undoubtedly be widely read and influential.
Review
If only because of the rarity of the event and the stature of the author...The Insect Societiesmust be considered a work of major importance. It is certain to influence the focusof research as well as the content of public information on the social insects for years to come...For anyone, layman or specialists, interested in a single, concise, lucid, and authoritative account of the most significant facts andtheories about insect societies, The Insect Societiesis the best available and will be for many years.
Review
Because ants, wasps, bees, and termites are of importance to man, because of their ecological domination of the land, and because their activities remind man of his own, this encyclopedic work will attract thegeneral reader, students, and biologists as well as entomologists...This comprehensive work must be recognized as an outstanding contribution to biological literature.
Synopsis
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Synopsis
View a video on Professor Wilson entitled "On the Relation of Science and the Humanities"
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 473-527) and index.
About the Author
Edward O. Wilsonis Pellegrino University Professor at <>Harvard University. In addition to two Pulitzer Prizes (one ofwhich he shares with Bert Hölldobler), Wilson has won many scientific awards, including the National Medal of Science and the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.