INSECTOPEDIA is an eclectic collection of 26 essays and vignettes about insects and our relationship with them. As a mix of travel writing, cultural observation and history, this is a fine piece of work. Unfortunately, it has several shortcomings as a popular science book.
The essays are arranged alphabetically, encyclopedia-style. It gets off to a great start with “Air”, an awe-inspiring account of the thousands of airborne insects that drift overhead each day. However, things take a turn for the worse in chapter C with “Chernobyl”, a profile of entomological artist Cornelia Hesse-Honegger, who in her artwork documents deformity in…
