An Obsession with Butterflies (recommended read)

For all the butt lovers out there. Came across this slimline volume at Kinokuniya's nature section recently, entitled "An Obsession with Butterflies" by Sharman Apt Russell. Did a quick flip through. Fascinating book documenting the history and association of butterflies with human culture, on early butterfly collectors and also focusing on the butts themselves, how the young survive dangers and fend for themselves, the magical tranformation called metarmophosis, and quirky characteristics of certain species. And lots more. Great read for anyone who loves butterflies in general.

Here's an excerpt from the book description:

'A delightful look at the science of butterflies-and our obsession with them-by an acclaimed nature writer.

Sharman Apt Russell again blends her lush voice and keen scientific eye in this marvelous book about butterflies. From Hindu mythology to Aztec sacrifices, butterflies have served as a metaphor for resurrection and transformation. Even during World War II, children in a Polish death camp scratched hundreds of butterflies onto the walls of their barracks. But as Russell points out in this rich and lyrical meditation, butterflies are above all objects of obsession.

From the beastly horned caterpillar, whose blood helps it count time, to the peacock butterfly, with wings that hiss like a snake, Russell traces the butterflies through their life cycles, exploring the creatures' own obsessions with eating, mating, and migrating. In this way, she reveals the logic behind our endless fascination with butterflies as well as the driving passion of such legendary collectors as the tragic Eleanor Glanville, whose children declared her mad because of her compulsive butterfly collecting, and the brilliant Henry Walter Bates, whose collections from the Amazon in 1858 helped develop his theory of mimicry in nature. Russell also takes us inside some of the world's most prestigious natural history museums, where scientists painstakingly catalogue and categorize new species of Lepidoptera, hoping to shed light on insect genetics and evolution.

A luminous journey through an exotic world of obsession and strange beauty, this is a book to be treasured by anyone who's ever watched a butterfly mid-flight and thought, as Russell has, "I've entered another dimension." '

Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

"An Obsession with Butterflies" by Sharman Apt Russell - ~$40.60 at Kinokuniya bookstores.