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stevenyenzer's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting at times but a bit wandering overall. It read more as a scientist's ponderings than a researched work.
blurrybug's review
4.0
This could've been my new favourite book as I love evolution theories and such.
However at a certain point this book starts focusing exclusively on warfare and human weapons and I can see the connection between the two topics as much modern warfare has been inspired by animals and insects. That side of it was really not my cup of tea.
I'm rating it 4 stars because what I liked about this book I really liked and it wasn't so much that I hated the chapters mentioned above as they left me bored.
Would recommend for people more interested in warfare.
However at a certain point this book starts focusing exclusively on warfare and human weapons and I can see the connection between the two topics as much modern warfare has been inspired by animals and insects. That side of it was really not my cup of tea.
I'm rating it 4 stars because what I liked about this book I really liked and it wasn't so much that I hated the chapters mentioned above as they left me bored.
Would recommend for people more interested in warfare.
lost_luna's review
3.0
Really interesting and I enjoyed how they related specific points of animal weapon evolution back to human weapon evolution. The last few chapters were just tedious though and were not needed. I didn't pick up a book about animal weapons to learn exclusively about military vehicles and weapons...
erinelizabeth's review
4.0
biology. sexual selection. hunting. human weapons. deterrence.
Describes the evolution of animal weapons (teeth, horns, claws)and compares them to the development of human weapons (knights, arms races, cold war). The author specializes in dung beetles so they get a lot of attention. Also heavily features mega fauna, stags, crabs, and elephants.
*I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Describes the evolution of animal weapons (teeth, horns, claws)and compares them to the development of human weapons (knights, arms races, cold war). The author specializes in dung beetles so they get a lot of attention. Also heavily features mega fauna, stags, crabs, and elephants.
*I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
hilaritas's review
3.0
This book has some really interesting and engaging descriptions of animal adaptations, and sets forth a clear and convincing thesis statement on when arms races develop in animal populations (limited resources that are unevenly distributed and geographical defensible, where battles are decided on a one-on-one, dueling basis rather than in a scramble/free-for-all). Less successful are the comparisons to human arms races and technology, where the author strains to make connections that are occasionally tenuous or overstated. The writing is also a little uneven, as the segues are awkward and the flowery introductions to chapters give way to much flatter writing in the body of the text. That said, this is a very quick read and gave me a lot of food for thought in areas far beyond the evolutionary adaptations of animal traits. Worth picking up.
ishmael's review
3.0
Hands down the coolest thing in I learned was people will use soldier ants as emergency sutures.
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