Ants at Work: How an Insect Society Is Organized

Yes, sometimes ants work hard. They ALWAYS look like they work hard - until you look real closely - and maybe put up a few roadblocks. Deborah Gordon spent 17 summers virtually memorizing the same 25 acres in Arizona with her students, fooling around with about 300 colonies of harvester ants. She chose them for the scientific reason that they were big enough to see without glasses. They are efficient? On page 105, Gordon includes a delightful excerpt from Mark Twain about ants. "They pick up something too large, go over obstructions instead of around, when and if they finally drag the prize into the nest, half the time it's worthless and has to be dragged off by midden workers," - the garbage collectors of antdom. They are subservient to the queen? "Look to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways and be wise: Which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, Provides her meat in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest." Proverbs 6:6. Gordon agrees with the good book...there is no guiding force. They just seem to know what to do and frequently change jobs as needed. They have an elaborate means of communication? Not that we can see. Their eyesight is poor and they communicate by touching antennaes, and by sensing perhaps 12 different chemicals on each other. At 4:30 AM Gordon et al get up, eat breakfast, and take a 20 minute trip out of the mountains to the site, where they set up the experiment they have agonized over, or analyze the one in progress. Before noon, as the heat sets in, they go back up the mountain and the ants go back into their mound - their foraging done, and the ant watchers' practical jokes accomplished and recorded. The rest of the day is spent tabulating and analyzing data and dreaming up new tricks in order to tease out more secrets of anthood. Gordon's process is a good example of the tedious, meticulous work of science. As she developed her data of the mindless pseudo-efficiency of an ant colony, a correllation occured to me about the self organization of stem cells as they differentiate, specialize, and mindlessly create a living entity, guided by only partially known processes (admittedly not a perfect analogy). This is a good read, an easy read and refreshingly out of the ordinary.

I'm a bit surprised by some of the negative comments about this book, because they seem to have missed its point. This isn't a formal presentation of the author's research. It therefore lacks many details, does not review the full range of other relevant literature, and it has not been honed by a committee of reviewers. What it DOES do is to give the reader who doesn't know anything about ants a very readable narrative account of how one might go about finding out something about them. This book is as much about how to apply the scientific method to the messy world of animal behavior as it is about ants in particular. Gordon's account of how to do that seems to have been mistaken by some as self indulgence. If you're looking for a detailed account of ants, you should see Holldobler and Wilson's 700+ page "The Ants." If you want an introduction to what's interesting about ants and how people go about studying them, Gordon's book is a great read.

I LOVE this book. What a rare peek over the shoulder of a true scientist with an inquisitive mind and appreciation for the art and beauty of science, applied to these tiny but incredibly interesting creatures. Within the same nest reside 5 or more ant types based on function. In that nest, some live up to 20 years while others "don't live long enough to EVER eat." I will never look at ants the same. Thank you for an insightful and wonderful story that makes life worth living.

I used to collect ants when I was younger, putting them into fishbowls filled with dirt to watch them build their nests. I think the various behaviors they exhibit are fascinating and I find it quite enjoyable to read Ms. Gordon's book. She's obviously not a novelist, but her writing style is easy to read, to the point, and displays a sense of humor and good-naturedness. I agree with the earlier reviews- this is a lot easier and more interesting to read than a dry textbook, yet it is an excellent source of information about the particular types of ants she studied. If you've never given much thought to these little creatures, reading this book will give you an appreciation of what an amazing world exists within an ant colony and its environs.

My science teacher had this book out in the laboratory, along with several other books and guides that are current and invited us to spend that period browsing and reading. I checked this book out and also the one on Nabokov's butterfly work-- Nabokov's Blues-- for Thanksgiving holiday. Ms. Gordon's book is much better than a textbook or fieldguide because it provides an exciting story about ants and how they work. The vivid desciptions personalize ants and make it more like a book verson of "A Bug's Life" movie-- but SERIOUS about the science; so is the story about Nabokov the scientist, which reads with a plot. Ants at Work was easy to read, extremely interesting and probably taught me more about ants than I could have learned from a textbook or lab manual. If it had one drawback against the Nabokov story it was only that Nabokov's exciting work on butterflies, as told by Mr. Johnson and Mr. Coates, had an ongoing plot-- about the famous writer's life and other scientists too. But, Ms. Gordon's book was fascinating and I thought my teacher's idea to have us learn about ants and butterflies by reading these more exciting books was a great idea. Both Ants at Work and Nabokov's Blues are perhaps best suited for adults after high school but I had no trouble with either book and sure felt I learned more about insects reading these books than I would have studying a dry textbook. It was a good suggestion by our teacher for the holidays.