Bombardier Beetles and Fever Trees

This book is subtitled A Close-Up Look at Chemical Warfare and Signals in Animals and Plants. Written by William Agosta. This is a fun book. It is really a language book - the chemical languange of living beings. Agosta examines the way plants and animals communicate through chemicals. He speaks of chemicals that living beings produce or sense to create effects such as a lightning bug's lightning, a tree's call to a complimentary fungus, and a Portugese Man-O-War's deadly toxins. This book is fun to read as well because it was written 10 years ago and we have perspective on some of the ideas and discoveries that were brand new at the time of writing. Agosta also speaks about a company researching human chemical signals. A good book and a quick read.

posted by reader kay at 7:28 PM