| An Obsession with Butterflies: Our Long Love Affair with a Singular Insect Contributor(s): Russell, Sharman Apt (Author) |
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ISBN: 0465071600 ISBN-13: 9780465071609 Publisher: Basic Books OUR PRICE: $18.99 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2004 Annotation: Butterflies have always served as a metaphor for resurrection and transformation, but as Sharman Apt Russell points out in this lyrical meditation, butterflies are above all objects of obsession. She reveals the logic behind our endless fascination with butterflies and introduces us to the legendary collectors and dedicated scientists who have obsessively catalogued new species of Lepidoptera. A luminous journey through an exotic world of passion and strange beauty, this is a book to be treasured by anyone who has ever experienced the enchantment of butterflies. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Nature | Animals - Butterflies & Moths - Nature | Animals - Insects & Spiders |
| Dewey: 595.789 |
| LCCN: 2003102851 |
| Physical Information: 0.67" H x 4.8" W x 7.22" (0.49 lbs) 238 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Sharman Apt Russell again blends her lush voice and keen scientific eye in this marvelous book about butterflies. From Hindu mythology to Aztec sacrifices, butterflies have served as a metaphor for resurrection and transformation. Even during World War II, children in a Polish death camp scratched hundreds of butterflies onto the walls of their barracks. But as Russell points out in this rich and lyrical meditation, butterflies are above all objects of obsession. From the beastly horned caterpillar, whose blood helps it count time, to the peacock butterfly, with wings that hiss like a snake, Russell traces the butterflies through their life cycles, exploring the creatures' own obsessions with eating, mating, and migrating. In this way, she reveals the logic behind our endless fascination with butterflies as well as the driving passion of such legendary collectors as the tragic Eleanor Glanville, whose children declared her mad because of her compulsive butterfly collecting, and the brilliant Henry Walter Bates, whose collections from the Amazon in 1858 helped develop his theory of mimicry in nature. Russell also takes us inside some of the world's most prestigious natural history museums, where scientists painstakingly catalogue and categorize new species of Lepidoptera, hoping to shed light on insect genetics and evolution. A luminous journey through an exotic world of obsession and strange beauty, this is a book to be treasured by anyone who's ever watched a butterfly mid-flight and thought, as Russell has, I've entered another dimension. |