Insects, in particular the evolutionary genetics of insects, are the focus of Michael Majerus鈥檚 work at the University of Cambridge鈥檚 genetics department. So it is a high accolade for a book to be tagged 鈥淭he best insect book I have come across in my career鈥�. He鈥檚 talking about the Encyclopedia of Insects, edited by Vincent Resh and Ring Carde (Academic Press, 2003). It鈥檚 a monumental book, he says, spanning 1276 pages. Rather than the terse, dry tome he expected, Majerus says it is alive with interest and diversity. 鈥淔rom biological control to bubonic plague, from forensic entomology to insects as food, and from ladybugs to locusts: it鈥檚 all here.鈥� The 250-odd essays almost without exception strike the right balance of scholarly information, depth and engaging interest, he says. Despite its price tag (拢64.95), the book should be on every biologist鈥檚 bookshelf.
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (Faber & Faber, 2000) is 鈥渢he only novel I鈥檝e read this year鈥�, says Majerus. Kingsolver uses her biological training to brilliant effect, he says, 鈥渇inding a basis to the behaviour of her characters in their animalistic ancestry鈥�.