https://moloch981.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/art-and-architecture-of-insects/ ( )

One of the downsides of the Early Reviewers program is that one often ends up judging books by their titles (and covers), for better or for worse. Consequently, I was originally interested in this book because I like art and architecture. Alas, this book might have been better titled "The High Resolution Photography of the Parts of Insects" or "The Evolutionary Design of Insects" because it really has nothing to do with art or architecture.

However, once I got past this initial disappointment, I was very interested to learn about the design of insects, particularly some of the tradeoffs in design. E.g., many insects have very small, rudimentary eyes, because they gain most of their information about the world through smell or touch. However, houseflies have large compound eyes because they are capable of flight, and so must be able to gather information about their environment more quickly than by smelling it and before they actually touch it. Still, their eyes are not capable of focusing on images that are far away, so their sight is limited to objects that are close to them.

So, even though this book wasn't exactly what I'd expected or hoped for, I still enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others. ( )

I received a copy of this book via the Library Thing Early reviewers program.

I cannot tell you how JEALOUS I am of the author! An electron microscope to basically play with for a personal project like this! So envious.

The photographs in the book are spectacular. I really wish there was an electronic version, so I could zoom in and out, although I'm sure unauthorized digital copies would be copied all over.

Having said that--the text of the book seems accurate, but the prose is just not that inspiring. I kept finding that I had skipped over sections. It's not bad writing; it's just not very engaging either. It's a bit like a lecture or list of factoids. ( )

This brook provides a unique look at insects, both through the amazing images and the not-too-technical descriptions. The clever design features behind how insects work so they can survive, such as why fleas are so hard to squash, was eye opening. The only room for improvement I saw was maybe to add regular photos to compare to the special images included, particularly for insects that might not be so familiar. Bottom line: delightful and a tad creepy, but in a good way. ( )

I wanted this book for the photographs. I found to my satisfaction that the pictures, taken with an electron microscope, were even better than I’d expected. A person could learn a great deal about insects by browsing through this book just studying the photos and reading the captions. However, to do this would be to miss out on the excellent text of this book! It is evident that the author is not only educated in his subject, he is also a very good writer and illuminating teacher. I think anyone intrigued by the fascinating interplay of some often overlooked forms of life on earth would enjoy this book. Art and Architecture of Insects receives my highest praise in that it fully met my desire to learn more about insects while sparking several new points of interest in which I may continue my study. ( )