The Butterfly Effect

Insects and the Making of the Modern World

By: Edward D. Melillo

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

A fascinating, entertaining dive into the long-standing relationship between humans and insects, revealing the surprising ways we depend on these tiny, six-legged creatures.

Insects might make us shudder in disgust, but they are also responsible for many of the things we take for granted in our daily lives. 

When we bite into a shiny apple, listen to the resonant notes of a violin, get dressed, receive a dental implant, or get a manicure, we are the beneficiaries of a vast army of insects. Try as we might to replicate their raw material (silk, shellac, and cochineal, for instance), our artificial substitutes have proven subpar at best, and at worst toxic, ensuring our interdependence with the insect world for the foreseeable future.      

Drawing on research in laboratory science, agriculture, fashion, and international cuisine, Edward D. Melillo weaves a vibrant world history that illustrates the inextricable and fascinating bonds between humans and insects. Across time, we have not only coexisted with these creatures but have relied on them for, among other things, the key discoveries of modern medical science and the future of the world's food supply. 

Without insects, entire sectors of global industry would grind to a halt and essential features of modern life would disappear. Here is a beguiling appreciation of the ways in which these creatures have altered - and continue to shape - the very framework of our existence. 

Cover image: Various Moths and Butterflies by Kubo Shunman. H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

©2020 Edward D. Melillo (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"Insects turn up everywhere, including throughout human history. Lively and engrossing, Edward Melillo's The Butterfly Effect shows that bugs matter every bit as much as generals and emperors." (Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction)

"Melillo is a witty and eloquent guide through the fraught terrain of human-insect interactions, able to write as lucidly about the white-eyed mutant fruitfly as the four movements of Serenade in A.... [He] is at his most inspiring, however, when he exalts the scientists who have rejected the view that there’s little in the world of insects to remind us of our own." (Christopher Irmscher, The Wall Street Journal)

"Fascinating ... Stories of intrigue and the breaking of lucrative monopolies mix with natural history to forge an unusual history intertwining human and insect life and full of aha moments." (Nancy Bent, Booklist)

Informative And Entertaining

One of my favorite genres of books is cool things about our insect world done in an entertaining way. This book has a lot going for it---an enlightened perspective on the future of our planet in relation to insects including the environment and as a food source.
The author really knows his subject and except for way too much information on cochineal, presents it in a fun interesting way.
I am not sure I am ready to eat bugs, but this author has given me food for thought. Pun intended.