Animal Architecture

I have no idea why Karl von Frisch’s survey of animals’ building habits appeared on my shelf, but it was a fascinating read. Frisch won his Nobel Prize for deciphering the bees' waggle dance, but here he surveys the constructions across the entire animal kingdom, from insects, through birds and on down to the mammals. When you read about them in detail, the techniques are simply mind-blowing, and though they are almost all innate or genetically programmed, they evince an evolutionary intelligence that AI can still only dream of. This is one of those books were you constantly disturb your drowsy wife with stuff like, “did you realize that the male Paradise Fish creates a nest for its eggs by blowing tiny bubbles under water that create a foam bed attached to a leaf?” or, “did you realize the protruding part of an Australian compass termite nest can be ten feet high and is always oriented with its axis facing North-South so as to present the lowest profile to the noonday sun?” or, “did you know that the male Brush Turkey incubates its eggs in a meter high pile of rotting compost whose heat it maintains constant to within a degree by adding and removing ventilation holes?” Many of the other construction techniques are as ingenious and as likely to wow a sleeping spouse as this collection suggests. And on top of all this fascinating ethology, Frisch’s writing is incredibly clear and concise, and the pictures and diagrams are wonderful. Get your cure for snoring today!