The Soul of the White Ant
People who bought this also bought...
-
Underbug
- An Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology
- By: Lisa Margonelli
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 24
The award-winning journalist Lisa Margonelli investigates the environmental and economic impact termites inflict on human societies in this fascinating examination of one of nature's most misunderstood insects.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Blind Termites hold the keys, we make our future blindly
- By Nicholas Stancioff on 09-23-18
-
Underland
- A Deep Time Journey
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 637
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 569
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 568
Hailed as "the great nature writer of this generation" (Wall Street Journal), Robert Macfarlane is the celebrated author of books about the intersections of the human and the natural realms. In Underland, he delivers his masterpiece: an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book, disappointing narrator
- By Clare Woods on 07-05-19
-
The Hidden Half of Nature
- The Microbial Roots of Life and Health
- By: David R. Montgomery, Anne Bikle
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 540
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 476
A riveting exploration of how microbes are transforming the way we see nature and ourselves - and could revolutionize agriculture and medicine. Prepare to set aside what you think you know about yourself and microbes. Good health - for people and for plants - depends on Earth's smallest creatures. The Hidden Half of Nature tells the story of our tangled relationship with microbes and their potential to revolutionize agriculture and medicine, from garden to gut.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A perfect introduction to microbiology
- By Ary Shalizi on 02-17-17
-
The Tangled Tree
- A Radical New History of Life
- By: David Quammen
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 888
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 798
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 798
In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. For instance, we now know that roughly eight percent of the human genome arrived not through traditional inheritance from directly ancestral forms, but sideways by viral infection - a type of HGT. In The Tangled Tree David Quammen chronicles these discoveries through the lives of the researchers who made them.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Should've had pdf with at least some illustrations
- By NJ on 08-26-18
-
The Vorrh
- By: Brian Catling
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 167
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 156
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 157
Next to the colonial town of Essenwald sits the Vorrh, a vast - perhaps endless - forest. It is a place of demons and angels, of warriors and priests. Sentient and magical, the Vorrh bends time and wipes memory. Legend has it that the Garden of Eden still exists at its heart. Now a renegade English soldier aims to be the first human to traverse its expanse. Armed with only a strange bow, he begins his journey, but some fear the consequences of his mission, and a native marksman has been chosen to stop him.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Mixed feelings
- By Christopher Torgersen on 09-05-15
-
The Song of the Dodo
- Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions
- By: David Quammen
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 24 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
David Quammen's book, The Song of the Dodo, is a brilliant, stirring work, breathtaking in its scope, far-reaching in its message - a crucial book in precarious times, which radically alters the way in which we understand the natural world and our place in that world. It's also a book full of entertainment and wonders. In The Song of the Dodo, we follow Quammen's keen intellect through the ideas, theories, and experiments of prominent naturalists of the last two centuries.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An excellent, understandable science book
- By kaf on 03-06-20
-
Underbug
- An Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology
- By: Lisa Margonelli
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 24
The award-winning journalist Lisa Margonelli investigates the environmental and economic impact termites inflict on human societies in this fascinating examination of one of nature's most misunderstood insects.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Blind Termites hold the keys, we make our future blindly
- By Nicholas Stancioff on 09-23-18
-
Underland
- A Deep Time Journey
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 637
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 569
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 568
Hailed as "the great nature writer of this generation" (Wall Street Journal), Robert Macfarlane is the celebrated author of books about the intersections of the human and the natural realms. In Underland, he delivers his masterpiece: an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book, disappointing narrator
- By Clare Woods on 07-05-19
-
The Hidden Half of Nature
- The Microbial Roots of Life and Health
- By: David R. Montgomery, Anne Bikle
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 540
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 476
A riveting exploration of how microbes are transforming the way we see nature and ourselves - and could revolutionize agriculture and medicine. Prepare to set aside what you think you know about yourself and microbes. Good health - for people and for plants - depends on Earth's smallest creatures. The Hidden Half of Nature tells the story of our tangled relationship with microbes and their potential to revolutionize agriculture and medicine, from garden to gut.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A perfect introduction to microbiology
- By Ary Shalizi on 02-17-17
-
The Tangled Tree
- A Radical New History of Life
- By: David Quammen
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 888
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 798
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 798
In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. For instance, we now know that roughly eight percent of the human genome arrived not through traditional inheritance from directly ancestral forms, but sideways by viral infection - a type of HGT. In The Tangled Tree David Quammen chronicles these discoveries through the lives of the researchers who made them.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Should've had pdf with at least some illustrations
- By NJ on 08-26-18
-
The Vorrh
- By: Brian Catling
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 167
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 156
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 157
Next to the colonial town of Essenwald sits the Vorrh, a vast - perhaps endless - forest. It is a place of demons and angels, of warriors and priests. Sentient and magical, the Vorrh bends time and wipes memory. Legend has it that the Garden of Eden still exists at its heart. Now a renegade English soldier aims to be the first human to traverse its expanse. Armed with only a strange bow, he begins his journey, but some fear the consequences of his mission, and a native marksman has been chosen to stop him.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Mixed feelings
- By Christopher Torgersen on 09-05-15
-
The Song of the Dodo
- Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions
- By: David Quammen
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 24 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
David Quammen's book, The Song of the Dodo, is a brilliant, stirring work, breathtaking in its scope, far-reaching in its message - a crucial book in precarious times, which radically alters the way in which we understand the natural world and our place in that world. It's also a book full of entertainment and wonders. In The Song of the Dodo, we follow Quammen's keen intellect through the ideas, theories, and experiments of prominent naturalists of the last two centuries.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An excellent, understandable science book
- By kaf on 03-06-20
Publisher's Summary
This audiobook by Eugène Marais is a passionate, insightful account into the world of termites. It is a meticulously researched expose of their complex, highly structured community life.
Originally translated into English in 1937, the quality of research remains as relevant today as it was when it was first published. This illuminating account will not only appeal to those with a scientific interest in termites, but will similarly enthrall listeners who are new to their captivating world. An exceptional feature of his detailed research is the extraordinary psychological life of the termite.
While the studies are based in South Africa, the extensive research also includes the termites of Magnetic Island, Australia. You will be taken on an exciting journey into the amazing life of termites, as their astonishing world of hierarchy and roles within their community is revealed in captivating detail.
His years of unceasing work on the veld led Eugène Marais to formulate his theory that the termite nest is similar in every respect to the organism of an animal. He observed that the workers and soldiers resemble red and white blood cells, while the fungus gardens are the digestive organ. The queen functions as the brain, controlling the collective mind, and the sexual flight of the kings and queens is similar in every aspect to the escape of spermatozoa and ova.
Contents:
- "The Beginning of a Termitary"
- "Unsolved Secrets"
- "Language in the Insect World"
- "What Is the Psyche?"
- "Luminosity in the Animal Kingdom"
- "The Composite Animal"
- "Somatic Death"
- "The Development of the Composite Animal"
- "The Birth of the Termite Community"
- "Pain and Travail in Nature"
- "Uninherited Instincts"
- "The Mysterious Power Which Governs"
- "The Water Supply"
- "The First Architects"
- "The Queen in Her Cell"
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- hotteststickofglue
- 09-19-19
A delight!
Utterly enchanting and magical, moreso when one learns of the tragic author's life. Poetry and insight throughoout - I cannot recommend this book highly enough.