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A review by aklev13
The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World's Favorite Insect by Wendy Williams
4.0
I love a good in-depth snapshot of an animal book - especially if its an animal i previously hadnt given much thought to but are actually common to see in daily life, such as butterflies. I also highly recommend Jennifer Ackerman’s work on birds which helped me to really appreciate bird life.
This book was very well written - sometimes you have to be in the mood for a research driven book, but Wendy Williams manages to seamlessly interweave the science with anecdote which makes this book easy to read even when its about the research. She gives enough detail to be intriguing and amazing but without getting bogged down in the intricate details that can make reading scientific articles a drag.
It also exposed a lot of the myths i still believed about butterflies and insects in general. I thought they were all short-lived insects whose only purpose was to breed and die - not so. Some, such as the monarch which is featured a lot in this book are incredibly smart and do have the ability to learn. They’re more robust than i would think too which is saddening given how climate change is depleting their numbers.
The discussion of the intricacies of their ecosystems was also fascinating.
I spouted many random facts to my partner while reading this much to his bemusement, such as the fact that some butterflies consume birds tears! I mean if thats not the stuff of nightmares i dont know what is.
My only complaint is that for a book so focused on the discussion of beauty and colour, there probably could have been some pictures of the butterflies discussed.
This book was very well written - sometimes you have to be in the mood for a research driven book, but Wendy Williams manages to seamlessly interweave the science with anecdote which makes this book easy to read even when its about the research. She gives enough detail to be intriguing and amazing but without getting bogged down in the intricate details that can make reading scientific articles a drag.
It also exposed a lot of the myths i still believed about butterflies and insects in general. I thought they were all short-lived insects whose only purpose was to breed and die - not so. Some, such as the monarch which is featured a lot in this book are incredibly smart and do have the ability to learn. They’re more robust than i would think too which is saddening given how climate change is depleting their numbers.
The discussion of the intricacies of their ecosystems was also fascinating.
I spouted many random facts to my partner while reading this much to his bemusement, such as the fact that some butterflies consume birds tears! I mean if thats not the stuff of nightmares i dont know what is.
My only complaint is that for a book so focused on the discussion of beauty and colour, there probably could have been some pictures of the butterflies discussed.