You won't believe me if I tell you that this new book came as a surprise to the authors, but it is true. Dr. Greg Paulson and myself just had the second edition of Insects Did it First published by Xlibris, as of Friday, November 16. These days the wheels of digital presses turn much faster than us old school writers are accustomed to.
The theme of the book is the parallel between human innovations and social behaviors and those evolved by insects. The similarities are uncanny, inspirational, and occasionally downright mind-blowing. Perhaps we should call this the twenty-first century edition of the original, as we added some chapters resulting from discoveries made after the first edition's 1992 publication date. Were I not such a procrastinator, we might have turned the book out even earlier, but thanks to Greg's diligence, here it is at last.
The initial concept was the brainchild of the late Dr. Roger D. Akre and E. Paul Catts, and Greg Paulson, who conspired together at Washington State University where Akre and Catts were professors, and Paulson a graduate student. Dr. Akre spearheaded the campaign, gathering many "insect inventions" over several years, recruiting many of his colleagues and contemporaries for suggestions. Dr. Catts contributed not only his own knowledge, but his artistic talent as well, rendering a wealth of cartoons to illustrate the chapters. The resulting book enjoyed a popular but brief run thanks to Ye Galleon Press.
Thanks to the solid foundation of the first edition, this latest version continues the tradition of strong, lively prose complemented by Catts' whimsical humorous illustrations. We updated the introduction to honor the original "cast," and added an epilogue to set the stage for what we imagine will be an even brighter future full of new discoveries and human plagiarism of natural "patents." Mother Nature is full of limitless surprises that inspire daily.
We are eager for you to enjoy this unique publication, but not exclusively for our own financial benefit. In fact, portions of the proceeds from sales will go toward scholarships in the name of Dr. Akre and Dr. Catts at Washington State University. It is the least we can do to pay our respects to these two giants of entomology.
While the book is also available through Amazon, we respectfully ask you to consider purchasing through the publisher, Xlibris. The sooner we reach the break-even point for publishing costs, the quicker we can begin contributing to those scholarships. When we receive instructions on how to secure our author's discounts, we will also be offering the book through those channels, too, and, as always, I am happy to sign and ship copies to my followers here. I will update this post as developments warrant. Thank you.
