parasitism

Book review – Selfish Genes to Social Beings: A Cooperative History of Life

8-minute read
keywords: evolutionary biology

Evolution is often characterised rather one-sidedly in terms of a struggle for existence, “red in tooth and claw”, and selfish genes. And yet, as evolutionary biologist Jonathan Silvertown shows here, cooperation in biology is both widespread and ancient. In his entertaining Dinner with Darwin which I reviewed way back in 2018, he briefly touched on food sharing in humans as one example of cooperation; in Selfish Genes to Social Beings, he gives the topic at large the book-length treatment it deserves. Silvertown here writes for a broad audience, explicitly including those without a formal background in biology. With nary an equation in sight, he relies on a potent combination of human-interest stories, wit, and ingenious metaphors to convince you that cooperation is an important component driving evolution.

(more…)

Book review – Flaws of Nature: The Limits and Liabilities of Natural Selection

7-minute read
keywords: evolution, popular science

Back in 2019, I reviewed Daniel S. Milo’s book Good Enough which was a critique of adaptationist storytelling. For organisms to survive, evolution by natural selection does not, and need not always result in perfect adaptations. Here, I revisit this topic with a double review of, first, Andy Dobson’s Flaws of Nature and, next, Telmo Pievani’s Imperfection. There is plenty more to this thought-provoking idea and Dobson will reel you right in: “It’s evolution, but not the Greatest Hits” (p. 16).

(more…)

Book review – Parasites: The Inside Story

7-minute read
keywords: parasitology, popular science

For many people, parasites top the list of nature’s most unwanted creatures. For biologists, however, they offer a window into the ecology and evolution of their hosts, while a full understanding of an ecosystem needs to take its parasite fauna into account. Parasites: The Inside Story offers an engrossing and well-illustrated introduction to some of these processes. However, the brevity of the chapters and the input from three authors does turn this into a bit of a medley that might leave readers wanting more.

(more…)

Book review – The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries: The Evidence and the People Who Found It

6-minute read

After three previous books in this format on fossils, rocks, and dinosaurs, geologist and palaeontologist Donald R. Prothero here tackles the story of evolution in 25 notable discoveries. More so than the previous trio, this book tries to be a servant to two masters, resulting in a mixed bag.

(more…)

Book review – Army Ants: Nature’s Ultimate Social Hunters

6-minute read

If ants give you the heebie-jeebies, you will want to turn away now, for this book review will deal with the ultimate arthropod nightmare: army ants. If, however, insects are your shtick, stick around, because German entomologist Daniel Kronauer has written a phenomenal book on army ant biology that is chock-a-block with jaw-dropping, award-winning photography.

(more…)

Book review – The Inside Out of Flies

6-minute read

Flies do not get a lot of love. Their culinary choices, from cow-pats to corpses, do not endear them to us. Add to that that the order Diptera also hosts mosquitoes, called our deadliest predator by some authors, and you can begin to see why. Entomologist Erica McAlister, the senior curator for Diptera at the Natural History Museum, London, is on a mission to change your mind. Chances are you never have been able to admire a fly close-up.

(more…)

Book review – Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World – and Ourselves

Being turned into a zombie is not something most of us worry about. Sure, some of us consider humans metaphorical zombies, controlled by mass media / the government / smartphone addiction / my pet hamster / ________ (fill in your own favourite 21st-century angst here). All I can say after reading Matt Simon’s book is that I am glad that I am not an insect. In turns gruesome and hilarious, Plight of the Living Dead is a carnival of the many grotesque ways that parasites can control their hosts. Something we do not have to worry about… or do we?

(more…)