Communication Among Social Bees.

LINDAUER, Martin (1918-2008):

Published by Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961., 1961

About this Item

ix, 143 pp; 68 figs. Original cloth. Ink name stamp of Franklin B. Gailey (Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois, Urbana) on flyleaf. Hinges reinforced. Else Near Fine, in near fine dust jacket (unclipped). Harvard Books in Biology, 2. 'I was saddened to learn of the death of Martin Lindauer, an under-appreciated hero of science. Thomas D. Seeley, in his Obituary (Nature 456, 718; 2008), describes experiments from Lindauer's Communication Among Social Bees (Harvard Univ. Press, 1961) that demonstrate his talent. The book also includes experiments that possess what physicist I. I. Rabi used to call 'witz': an unexpected twist that elevates an experiment to a higher level. Living in an enclosed, sheltered space, the honeybee Apis mellifera performs its communicative dance on a vertical surface in the dark, using gravity as a substitute for the direction of the Sun. By depriving them of a vertical surface and giving them a direct view of the Sun, Lindauer forced them to revert to the more primitive, Sun-directed dance of their dwarf Indian relative, Apis florea. In closing the gap between a primitive and an advanced condition, Lindauer possibly produced the best-ever experimental evidence for evolution. Scientists concerned with evolution of human language and mind might ponder his success' (William L. Abler, 'Lindauer's genius showed evolution in a simple experiment,' Nature, Volume 457, page 379, 2009). A young Richard Dawkins had a letter published in Science, 'Bees Are Easily Distracted' (22 Aug 1969, Vol 165, Issue 3895, p. 751), in which he criticizes Wenner, et al.'s paper published earlier that year in Science that attempted to disprove the experiments of Karl von Frisch, cited in Dawkins's second of three footnotes (Frisch's 1950 book, Bees). The third note cites Lindauer's experiments described in the book offered here.

Seller Inventory # 25271

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Communication Among Social Bees.
• Publisher: Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961.
• Publication Date: 1961
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine