Ants at Work: How an Insect Society is Organized

Gordon, Deborah

ISBN 10: 0393321320 / ISBN 13: 9780393321326

Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 2000

About this Item

Fast Free Shipping â Good condition. It may show normal signs of use, such as light writing, highlighting, or library markings, but all pages are intact and the book is fully readable. A solid, complete copy that's ready to enjoy.

Seller Inventory # GWV.0393321320.G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Ants at Work: How an Insect Society is Organized
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393321320
• ISBN 13: 9780393321326
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

Individual ants manage their incredibly complex colonies with no one in charge―how do they do it?

Ants have long been regarded as the most interesting of the social insects. With their queens and celibate workers, these intriguing creatures have captured the imaginations of scientists and children alike for generations. Yet until now, no one had studied intensely the life cycle of the ant colony as a whole. An ant colony has a life cycle of about fifteen years―it is born, matures, and dies. But the individual ants that inhabit the colony live only one year. So how does this system of tunnels and caves in the dirt become so much more than the sum of its parts?

Leading ant researcher Deborah Gordon takes the reader to the Arizona desert to explore this question. The answer involves the emerging insights of the new science of complexity, and contributes to understanding the evolution of life itself.

About the Author

Deborah Gordon is associate professor of biology at Stanford University.