Journey to the ants
by Bert Hölldobler · first published 1994
57% recommend43% neutral
Hailed as "a masterpiece" by Scientific American and as "the greatest of all entomology books" by Science, Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Wilson's monumental treatise The Ants also was praised in the popular press and won a Pulitzer Prize. This overwhelming success attests to a fact long known and deeply felt by the authors: the infinite fascination of their tiny subjects. This fascination finds its full expression in Journey to the Ants, an overview of myrmecology that is also an eloquent tale of the authors' pursuit of these astonishing insects. Richly illustrated and delightfully written,
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If you're interested in ants (and even if you're not) I highly recommend the book Journey to the Ants by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson.
on “Ants: Who looks after the injured in a colony?” ↗Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond Journey to the ants - Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Lewis A short history of nearly everything - Bill Bryson The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay (In addition to its inspiring message on overcoming adversity, it also taught…
on “Ask HN: Life Changing Books?” ↗It's not my field, but feels like an appropriate answer. After the recent death of the myrmecologist EO Wilson, I decided to order a couple of his books and have spent the last few nights reading "Journey to the ants". It has been completely fascinating, I can't put it down.
on “Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?” ↗If you find Ants interesting you would probably like E.O. Wilson's works. That's all he did his entire life, study ants. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_Ants
on “The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges (2018)” ↗…isolation. I'm not sure whether to recommend Dennett's Consciousness Explained or to compel the questioner to work through The Molecular Biology of the Cell, followed by (e.g.) Hölldobler and Wilson's Journey to the Ants -- and then keep going -- before trying to dismiss the complexity of a network of neurons with the wave of one hand.
on “Ask HN: Where does consciousness come from?” ↗…videos all the time (they are great, by the way). We checked out Holldobler and Wilson's epic tome Ants (it's too expensive, even for a used copy, but a beautiful, large volume) but he found Wilson's Journey to the Ants much more readable, he's going through it page by page, taking notes, which I've never seen him to with a book before. So, this led to some ant-related discussions with him. Did you know that ant colonies…
on “E. O. Wilson Still Thrives on Being a Scientific Provocateur” ↗Looks like The Ants is quite expensive ($200+). I see a couple of other books on ants by him, would you recommend either of these? Journey to the Ants https://shop.harvard.com/book/9780674485266 Tales from the Ant World https://www.harvard.com/book/9781324091097_tales_from_the_an...
on “E.O. Wilson saw the world in a new way” ↗