Book Review: Endless Forms by Seirian Sumner

I know I don't post about them much, mostly just about thylacines and wolves, but I actually really like bugs and spiders. Particularly wasps just really spark my fancy. I know most people hate them and think they're nothing but nuisances, but they're nonetheless an important part of our ecosystems. So let's review a non-fiction book about these little guys.

In this book, Seirian Sumner takes a look at these fascinating little creatures. The author describes them and their biology and lives, shows the history of how and by whom they were studied in the past, dispels several misconceptions and depicts how important they really are for our ecosystems.

If you genuinely and vehemently hate wasps (I know plenty of people like this), I'm not sure if this book will change your mind, but honestly I would recommend you pick up and read it even if just to learn more about them because there are quite a few just blatantly false rumors about them, such as that they contribute nothing to our ecosystems.

Granted, wasps aren't as cute and cuddly as bees, but they're still important hunters that help control the populations of their prey (flies, caterpillars, spiders) and also participate to some degree in pollination. Bees aren't the only pollinators. 

There's also a whole lot of complicated biological facts about them I'm in no way qualified to recount here, but I will say that these little critters are way more complicated than I gave them credit for. And numerous; there's so many unique species, many of which are brought up here.

I also enjoyed the parts where the author engages in a fictional interview with Aristotle, one of the first known people to write about wasps. This part of the book was partially bizarre, but also really fun to read and fascinating because of it. And this fictional conversation is also very interesting, showing how far research into these bugs has come since Aristotle described them in his Historium Animalium. It was an unconventional chapter to find in a non-fiction book for sure, but all the more engaging to read. 

Overall I definitely recommend this book to those who like want to learn more about wasps. And, honestly, even those who don't. I'm not saying everyone has to like wasps like I and the author do, but the least we can do is learn about them, respect them and not instantly kill every single one of them on sight.

Rating: 5/5