Steve Nicholls has an impressive resumé as a distinguished entomologist and as an award-winning documentary film maker. This rare combination of talents enables him to appreciate and understand insects and other arthropods in a manner not shared by many.
He has written a fabulous book about the most fascinating and the most diverse organisms on Earth, creatures that are in fact the key to all life. These lowly invertebrates whose fate we trifle with so callously and cavalierly have the ability to bring an end to humanity and other back-boned creatures. Yet still we develop new ways to rid ourselves of them, new poisons to eradicate them, but ultimately the battle is ours to lose. Every new chemical control gives rise to a population that has acquired resistance to prophylactic measures, and vaccines and drugs become increasingly less effective. We are relentless in our war against pollinators in ways that threaten the food we eat. We seem incapable of accepting these wonderful creatures for what they are and learning to live with them at worst and embracing their diversity at best.
There are solitary insects and social insects; insects that are large and small, colourful and dull, secretive and brazen, numerous and rare. Insects like termites and ants can teach us about architecture, engineering and the organization of society, about bravery and the willingness to sacrifice for the common good. In some insects fathers are devoted parents; others have perfected rudimentary tool use. There is a species that saws off the head of prey ten times its size. Wasps and ants are capable of delivering stings containing venom that results in intense agonizing pain, fatal even to some.
Insects are an essential source of food for countless other organisms with the potential to supply high quality protein to humans, alleviating food shortages around the world.
Some spend their lives in the dark cracks and corners of our houses, others blot out the sun in their huge swarms, and strip the land bare of everything that grows.
Like it or not, insects and arthropods are part of our daily lives. A tiny spider is marching across my desk as I type this review. Let us learn to understand their role in life on Earth before it is too late.
Global Warming, or Global Boiling as United Nations Secretary General António Guterres recently named it, threatens all of us, yet given the record of insects across the broad spread of time, insects will come out on top. Long after the last human gasps for breath the final time, cockroaches will patrol the degraded landscape and make a living.
Nicholls ends the book by quoting the wise words of E.O. Wilson, often quoted and always true, "If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos."
We have been warned. Whether we heed the warning or not is another matter entirely. Our record to date does not inspire confidence that we will.
Alien Worlds: How Insects Conquered the Earth & Why Their Fate Will Determine Our Future - Princeton University Press
Steve Nicholls
Hardcover - US$39.95 - ISBN: 9780691253589
496 pages - 179 colour photographs
6.125 x 9.25 inches (15.31 x 23.13 cm)
Publication Date: 01 August, 2023
Your final paragraph is a neat summary of the peril we are in. Peril I fear we have ignored for too long.
ReplyDeleteThe evidence is clear, the alarm bells have been rung many times, yet we still carry along in mindless profligacy and indifference.
Deleteone thing that humans are good at, is ignoring warnings! about our environment, our earth, our breathable air. here in Florida there are many dangers with signs telling HUMANS what can and does happen, riptides and alligators, lightning. Warnings that people ignore. the peril our earth is in now had had warnings for many years that were ignored and still are.
ReplyDeleteAnd in Florida you have a governor who denies just about every truth in life and conjures up his own twisted narrative about everything.
Delete..humans only think that they are important!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this review, David - I suspect that I will be buying this book.
ReplyDeleteThank you, also, for those final three paragraphs. If only the majority of the human race would take that message on board, there is a chance that the planet will survive with man still on it. However, it is daily looking increasingly unlikely.
My very best wishes to you and Miriam - - - Richard
It's such a beautiful world, Richard, with so much diversity, yet we seem ever more hell bent on destroying it.
Deletehumans heed no warnings. I totally agree about insects. they are beautiful and weird and so varied. and so necessary for life.
ReplyDeleteA great review and interesting book. Humans do not seem to care about insects, just ignoring the big picture. Take care, have a great day!
ReplyDeleteOtro precioso libro que me encantaría, como también me encantan los insectos. Abrazos.
ReplyDeleteSo true, and I'm not sure that mankind still has the time to turn it round. Some will never learn. Sad, but true. Hugs, Valerie xxxxx
ReplyDeleteGlobal boiling - unfortunate expression for mr. Guterres...
ReplyDeleteA truthful expression if you ask me.
DeleteAfter this special summer where so many countries have set new heat records, there is every reason why the warning lights should flash extra often. I do the little I can for the environment and nature. I drive an electric car, recycle and never throw rubbish out into nature. I don't fly either. Everyone can do a little to pollute less, but I'm afraid it's not enough, David. Hugs and kisses, Marit
ReplyDeleteKudos to you, Marit. You are a model citizen. Hugs and kisses - David
DeleteEvery being is important, even the small insects.
ReplyDeleteEven though I am not a fan of many spiders and various biting & stinging insects, I have always known how important they are to the environment. Everything has its place in this world. In my mind, insects have always been like the ground floor, the base for all of life here on earth. They are the least noticed canaries in the coalmine.
ReplyDeleteWise comment, Rita.
DeleteMuy interesante la temática de este libro.
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo
Too bad humans don't take these matters seriously.
ReplyDeleteEven as the Earth floods and burns we don’t take it seriously.
DeleteI belong to an organisation called "Buglife" here in Britain and have also enabled a Buglife donation every time I use Paypal. YOu have the option to give a small sum every time you buy anything. I think Amazon has something similar, except that I rarely use Amazon somehow. I entirely agree with your review and the views in the book. I am in despair about our failing government here, where the prime minister is hounded relentlessly by the populist far right and no longer seems to be in control of what he is doing. His choices are now helping nobody, even himself, but are doing ever greater harm to the environment. By the way have you read a book called "Never Home Alone"? https://magazine.scienceconnected.org/2020/05/book-review-never-home-alone/ A slightly different topic but a fascinating look into a very tiny but important world.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenny. I don’t use Amazon either, but a I donate regularly to environmental and advocacy organizations. I think we all despair of our politicians these days. Responsible, principled leadership seems hard to come by. Thanks for the book recommendation. I will check it out for sure.
DeleteHi Jenny: I just read the review of the book in the link you sent above. Sounds quite fascinating. I will try to get my hands on a copy.
DeleteWhat's up, good evening, David!
ReplyDeleteIt´s true, we judge them quickly, we treat them with contempt and they even scare us, but they have the world in their hands. "What resist, persists", says the saying. "Lo que resiste, persiste" ,en español. We must accept diversity, this post is a call for coexistence and the understanding that all living things, including insects, play a crucial role in the natural balance. Your blog does a great job of raising awareness.
Sending wishes for a happy month of August!
Muchas gracias, amiga Carolina.
DeleteAs I sit on my patio in the late summer afternoon, I am constantly serenaded by the "song" of the cicadas. There is a chorus of them all around my and my neighbors' yards. I would be so sad, my life would be much poorer, to lose them.
ReplyDeleteSure beats a screaming police vehicle siren, doesn’t it?
DeleteWise words he says that you have quoted. Insects can tell us so much if only we took notice.
ReplyDeleteInsects, viruses and bacteria play a major role in people's lives.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that counts for people is that you have to eradicate them and protect the crops against them so that a good yield can be earned in money again, that's what it's all about for people, earning money that we destroy the earth and that means they also attract none of it.
Greetings Irma
Excellent review!
ReplyDeleteJust a mile or two from my brother's house the RSPB have bought a farm, not as a nature reserve, but a commercial farm, albeit one where they farm in a wildlife-friendly way. Bird numbers quadrupled in the first five years and insect life has also increased - and the farm still is making a good profit. They still use modern agro-chemicals but don't use insecticides unless absolutely necessary. Many local farmers have taken an interest in the project and have adopted at least some of these measures. Just a couple of winters ago I counted a flock of approximately 45 Bramblings on one field near me and well over 200 Greenfinches on another plot nearby which are much greater numbers than I've ever witnessed before.
ReplyDeleteThis is all to the good. I have been reading quite a bit about rewilding in various way and and naturalizing backyards. I know that Isabella Tree wrote a book about rewilding her farm but I have been unable to find it here. I checked with my local library and they don’t have a copy. It’s probably out of print, but if you ever happen to see a copy and could pick it up for me I would happily reimburse you the cost of the book and the expense of mailing it.
DeleteEvery being is important and we, the humans, must understand this important thing.
ReplyDeleteI cannot stand that many humans kill the animals for fun! Where is the fun in such actions?
Beats me!
DeleteLookie here! Never mind that silly Firefox/PC refusal to let you in - a way has been found. Even better, I can read your review in the middle of Houston while awaiting my 6 month eye appointment. Technology does have an advantage now and then.
ReplyDeleteThat’s great, Linda. We finally succeeded.
DeleteHello David, indeed no insects than it will be the end. I think I would like to own this book. Seems verry interesting to me. Thank you for your review.
ReplyDeleteWarm regards,
Roos
Hi David - we are a selfish crowd ... and I suspect our demise is not far away - but not in our life-times - we're just making life difficult for those who come after. We can't seem to grasp the whole picture ... and create many Unintended Consequences ... I'd love to read this book - I've got others here you've recommended. No-one seems to think of others ... patently not everyone! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteA fascinating book and that last paragraph. Hooboy. Long my sentiment and we are in crisis on this tiny planet of ours with a confluence of wars, starvation, the unhomed and fire blasting heat and fires. And no one is in charge! Every country at loggerheads. No global agreement in sight.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Yes, they will be here long after we have gone....and what will we have left them?? Do we care?? Do we even think about it?? Not enough of us...
ReplyDeleteMany of us don't even acknowledge it, let alone care about it.
DeleteSadly
DeleteIt looks like a very interesting book!....I have to admit that I love bugs!!....they are beautiful and mysterious at the same time!.......Abrazotes, Marcela
ReplyDeleteYou can even bake with cricket flour!
Delete