Currently Reading Evolution of the Insects By David Grimaldi, Michael S. Engel see related

Wow, it's been an entire year since I posted anything here. I guess I could give an update.

I'm currently reading an awesome book Evolution of the Insects by David Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel. It is easily the most technical book I have ever read: it hasn't been dumbed down at all. So far I've been through the early insects (eg silverfish), the pterygota (eg mayflies, dragonflies, and the awesome, and extinct, huge griffinflies, aka giant dragonflies), and now I reading about polyneoptera, which is a huge group that includes stoneflies, grasshoppers and crickets, walking stick, roaches, termites, mantids and many extinct or not well known groups (I've just started the section on termites). So I'm sure you can guess that I have quite a way to go since I haven't even gotten to the beetles (Coleoptera) which is the largest order.

Not only are the insects themselves interesting, but it does discuss some of the disputes. When the general public is presented with science on the news, or even most websites, they get the message that such and such is cut and dry, but really there are many disputes behind the scenes. Facts, especially when dealing with paleontology, are rarely perfectly clear: one can draw different conclusion based on the evidence. This is why parsimony is used, since it is best, when faced with too little information to reach an obvious conclusion, to stick with the simplest conclusion until more information is obtained. But even the most parsimonious conclusion can be contentious. This is why all conclusions in science aren't set in stone.

Insect evolution doesn't get much attention (the only mention I can think of is some IDiot tried to claim that the bombardier beetle was an example of irreducible complexity), but it is very interesting. Considering just how many insects there are, one may initially be disappointed with how "small" the fossil record is, but insects don't have large, hard bones to leave behind, so I am actually somewhat amazed at just how much we have been able to find. And how many other full specimens of other animals have been found? Not many (although there is the relatively recent hadrosaur find)? That is one advantage insects (and such smaller creatures) have over the big, more famous ones.

I guess one big reason insect finds don't make the news is that people think “bugs” are “icky” and “creepy.” I obviously don't agree. All my life I have been interested in insects (not spiders as much, but they are interesting too), and my dad keeps telling me that I'm probably destined to become an entomologist, but I'm not so sure. I do find it interesting but I'm not sure I have the memory. I'm also unsure what I would do since I have a more general interest and I don't really find any one field more interesting than any other.