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Underbug: An Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology Margonelli, Lisa Very Goo
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Located in: Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States
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eBay item number:335377043367
Item specifics
- Condition
- ISBN
- 9780374538460
- Book Title
- Underbug : an Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology
- Item Length
- 8.9 in
- Publisher
- Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- Publication Year
- 2019
- Format
- Trade Paperback
- Language
- English
- Illustrator
- Yes
- Item Height
- 0.9 in
- Genre
- Nature, Science
- Topic
- Animals / Insects & Spiders, Life Sciences / Zoology / Entomology
- Item Width
- 5.8 in
- Item Weight
- 13.1 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 320 Pages
About this product
Product Information
The award-winning journalist Lisa Margonelli, national bestselling author of Oil on the Brain: Petroleum's Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank , investigates the environmental and economic impact termites inflict on human societies in this fascinating examination of one of nature's most misunderstood insects. Are we more like termites than we ever imagined? In Underbug , the award-winning journalist Lisa Margonelli introduces us to the enigmatic creatures that collectively outweigh human beings ten to one and consume $40 billion worth of valuable stuff annually--and yet, in Margonelli's telling, seem weirdly familiar. Over the course of a decade-long obsession with the little bugs, Margonelli pokes around termite mounds and high-tech research facilities, closely watching biologists, roboticists, and geneticists. Her globe-trotting journey veers into uncharted territory, from evolutionary theory to Edwardian science literature to the military industrial complex. What begins as a natural history of the termite becomes a personal exploration of the unnatural future we're building, with darker observations on power, technology, historical trauma, and the limits of human cognition. Whether in Namibia or Cambridge, Arizona or Australia, Margonelli turns up astounding facts and raises provocative questions. Is a termite an individual or a unit of a superorganism? Can we harness the termite's properties to change the world? If we build termite-like swarming robots, will they inevitably destroy us? Is it possible to think without having a mind? Underbug burrows into these questions and many others--unearthing disquieting answers about the world's most underrated insect and what it means to be human.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ISBN-10
0374538468
ISBN-13
9780374538460
eBay Product ID (ePID)
7038294554
Product Key Features
Book Title
Underbug : an Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology
Format
Trade Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Animals / Insects & Spiders, Life Sciences / Zoology / Entomology
Publication Year
2019
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Nature, Science
Number of Pages
320 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
8.9 in
Item Height
0.9 in
Item Width
5.8 in
Item Weight
13.1 Oz
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
Reviews
"A timely, thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human, as much as what it means to be termite, and a penetrating look at the moral challenges of our ongoing technological revolution." -- Lucy Cooke, the New York Times "Termites are not just the destructive force that homeowners know and hate--'architects of negative space,' as environmental writer Lisa Margonelli wittily puts it. They also comprise a kind of entomological three-ring circus, and this round-up of research on the eusocial insects is a ticket to the show . . . This is a wild ride through a hidden microcosmos stretching from Australia to Namibia." -- Barbara Kiser, Nature "Margonelli uses her 'obsessive' termite tale to open wider discussions about everything from the evolution of superorganisms to the morality of military drones. Her work represents science writing at its most enjoyable and informative best." -- Carl Hays, Booklist "Unlikely but fascinating...[this] far-ranging work touches on the nature of individuality, the use of drones by the military, the applicability of concepts of good and evil to science, and the creation of biofuels created using the termite gut, among other topics. Margonelli brings all of this to light by making complex, cutting-edge science understandable to the general reader, while also conveying the excitement, frustration, and plain drudgery inherent in the scientific endeavor. ...Margonelli has written a book as entertaining as it is informative." -- Publishers Weekly "This book is about termites the way the Bible is about men with beards. Yes, it takes you into the mounds and inside the bugs, but also deep into the strange labs and pulsing, eclectic minds of the roboticists, geneticists, physicists, and ecologists who try to figure them out. Perhaps best of all, it takes you deep into the brain of Lisa Margonelli, one of the finest writers and most original thinkers we have. A surprising, swirling, fantastically unpredictable, thought-provoking, funny, and (depending on your species) delicious book." -- Mary Roach, author of Stiff "In a unique voice that's wry, inventive, and acrobatic, Margonelli takes us on a termite-guided exploration of subterranean tracts of nature, science, and robotics. The book is brimming with flair. Prepare to find yourself absorbed." --Peter Godfrey-Smith , author of Other Minds, "Termites are not just the destructive force that homeowners know and hate--'architects of negative space,' as environmental writer Lisa Margonelli wittily puts it. They also comprise a kind of entomological three-ring circus, and this round-up of research on the eusocial insects is a ticket to the show . . . This is a wild ride through a hidden microcosmos stretching from Australia to Namibia." -- Barbara Kiser, Nature "Margonelli uses her 'obsessive' termite tale to open wider discussions about everything from the evolution of superorganisms to the morality of military drones. Her work represents science writing at its most enjoyable and informative best." -- Carl Hays, Booklist "Unlikely but fascinating...[this] far-ranging work touches on the nature of individuality, the use of drones by the military, the applicability of concepts of good and evil to science, and the creation of biofuels created using the termite gut, among other topics. Margonelli brings all of this to light by making complex, cutting-edge science understandable to the general reader, while also conveying the excitement, frustration, and plain drudgery inherent in the scientific endeavor. ...Margonelli has written a book as entertaining as it is informative." -- Publishers Weekly "This book is about termites the way the Bible is about men with beards. Yes, it takes you into the mounds and inside the bugs, but also deep into the strange labs and pulsing, eclectic minds of the roboticists, geneticists, physicists, and ecologists who try to figure them out. Perhaps best of all, it takes you deep into the brain of Lisa Margonelli, one of the finest writers and most original thinkers we have. A surprising, swirling, fantastically unpredictable, thought-provoking, funny, and (depending on your species) delicious book." -- Mary Roach, author of Stiff "In a unique voice that's wry, inventive, and acrobatic, Margonelli takes us on a termite-guided exploration of subterranean tracts of nature, science, and robotics. The book is brimming with flair. Prepare to find yourself absorbed." --Peter Godfrey-Smith , author of Other Minds
Dewey Decimal
595.736
Dewey Edition
23
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eBay item number:335377043367
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| Postage and handling | Each additional item | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free postage | Free | United States | Standard Shipping | Estimated between Thu, 13 Jun and Sat, 15 Jun to 43230 |
| US $5.99 (approx PHP 350.54) | US $5.99 (approx PHP 350.54) | United States | Expedited Shipping | Estimated between Wed, 12 Jun and Fri, 14 Jun to 43230 |
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9***8 (408)- Feedback left by buyer.
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The book is in very good condition. Nice, honest store
9***8 (408)- Feedback left by buyer.
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It is nice Encyclopedia; my kids like it
9***8 (408)- Feedback left by buyer.
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The book arrived as being described, thanks. Happy with my purchase