
Why Insects Matter
Earth's Most Essential Species
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Narrated by:
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Professor Scott Solomon
About this listen
In many ways, insects are just like us. Elaborate mating rituals, a variety of parenting styles, and a plethora of careers - from architects and engineers, to farmers and ranchers. Like us, they’re able to share complex information essential for survival, significantly impact their environment, and recycle. But insects outdo us in so many respects. They are terrestrial, but some can live underwater. Their six legs are great for walking or running, but some can glide through the rainforest canopy, and many can fly. And some can create a material many times stronger than steel.
The truth is, our planet belongs to the insects. Taken all together, they out-number us, out-weigh us, and could quite possibly out-last us. They are by far the most diverse group of organisms on Earth, with more than 1,000,000 species identified, as of now - 2,000 times more species than the mammals. In fact, beetles alone account for 23 percent of all plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi combined.
In 24 captivating lectures beautifully illustrated with graphics, photos, and video footage, Professor Scott Solomon shares his passion for these extraordinary creatures. Why Insects Matter: Earth’s Most Essential Species will open your eyes to evolutionary accomplishments you had never even imagined. As many biologists have pointed out, if Homo sapiens simply disappeared one day, the loss would not be terribly disruptive to the rest of life on Earth. But if the insects disappeared, life on this planet would descend into chaos. Insects are Earth’s most essential species.
Having established themselves on Earth 480 million years before any of our genus arose in Africa, insects have survived three mass extinctions; while 75 percent of all living species were extinguished, these animals endured. Just imagine all we could learn from them.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Charles Darwin's theory of organic evolution-the idea that life on earth is the product of purely natural causes, not the hand of God-set off shock waves that continue to reverberate through Western society, and especially the United States. What makes evolution such a profoundly provocative concept, so convincing to most scientists, yet so socially and politically divisive? These 12 eye-opening lectures are an examination of the varied elements that so often make this science the object of strong sentiments and heated debate.
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Little mistakes here and there
- By Daniel on 06-21-16
By: Edward J. Larson, and others
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The Dead Sea Scrolls
- By: Gary A. Rendsburg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary A. Rendsburg
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
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Whether complete or only fragmentary, the 930 extant Dead Sea Scrolls irrevocably altered how we look at and understand the foundations of faith and religious practice. Now you can get a comprehensive introduction to this unique series of archaeological documents, and to scholars' evolving understanding of their authorship and significance, with these 24 lectures. Learn what the scrolls are, what they contain, and how the insights they offered into religious and ancient history came into focus.
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A comprehensive overview of the Qumran Scrolls
- By Jacobus on 09-25-13
By: Gary A. Rendsburg, and others
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The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis
- By: Louis Markos, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Louis Markos
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
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What can we still learn from C.S. Lewis? Find out in these 12 insightful lectures that cover the author's spiritual autobiography, novels, and his scholarly writings that reflect on pain and grief, love and friendship, prophecy and miracles, and education and mythology.
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Basically a collection of sermons
- By Richard on 11-20-13
By: Louis Markos, and others
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1066: The Year That Changed Everything
- By: Jennifer Paxton, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jennifer Paxton
- Length: 3 hrs
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With this exciting and historically rich six-lecture course, experience for yourself the drama of this dynamic year in medieval history, centered on the landmark Norman Conquest. Taking you from the shores of Scandinavia and France to the battlefields of the English countryside, these lectures will plunge you into a world of fierce Viking warriors, powerful noble families, politically charged marriages, tense succession crises, epic military invasions, and much more.
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History brought to life
- By Joshua on 07-10-13
By: Jennifer Paxton, and others
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Understanding Human Emotions
- By: Lawrence Ian Reed, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Lawrence Ian Reed
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
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In the 12 fascinating lectures of Understanding Human Emotions, Professor Lawrence Ian Reed helps us consider our emotions from an evolutionary point of view, exploring why we have these consistent feelings and physical responses to specific stimuli in our lives, and how they benefit us. Averaged over the course of evolutionary history, our emotions motivate us to act in ways that best promote our survival and reproduction. Without the full range of our emotions, we simply would not be here.
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Among My Top Favorites
- By M.Biblioswine on 12-20-21
By: Lawrence Ian Reed, and others
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Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior
- By: Mark Leary, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Mark Leary
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
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Every day of your life is spent surrounded by mysteries that involve what appear to be rather ordinary human behaviors. What makes you happy? Where did your personality come from? Why do you have trouble controlling certain behaviors? Why do you behave differently as an adult than you did as an adolescent?Since the start of recorded history, and probably even before, people have been interested in answering questions about why we behave the way we do.
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I wanted to like this course
- By Diane Tincher on 08-06-18
By: Mark Leary, and others
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Writing Creative Nonfiction
- By: Tilar J J. Mazzeo, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Tilar J J. Mazzeo
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
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Bringing together the imaginative strategies of fiction storytelling and new ways of narrating true, real-life events, creative nonfiction is the fastest-growing part of the creative writing world. It's a cutting-edge genre that's reshaping how we write (and read) everything from biographies and memoirs to blogs and public speaking scripts to personal essays and magazine articles.
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Not what I expected but useful
- By Nancy on 04-14-14
By: Tilar J J. Mazzeo, and others
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Creation Stories of the Ancient World
- By: Joseph Lam, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Joseph Lam
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
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Creation stories, found within many ancient cultures, are traditional accounts of the origins of the universe, the earth, and humanity. Often embodied as epic poetry, and told through the acts of divine beings, creation stories illuminate the values, beliefs, and creeds of the earliest civilizations. As such, these stories show us how early cultures made sense of the human condition, in theological, philosophical, and political terms. These 12 dynamic and thought-provoking lectures offer you a penetrating look at the origin stories of the great civilizations of the Mediterranean.
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great survey of Ancient Creation stories
- By Anthony Alemany on 07-13-23
By: Joseph Lam, and others
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Storytelling and the Human Condition
- By: Alexandra Hudson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Alexandra Hudson
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
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To examine the connection between the storytelling impulse and our implicit desire to understand our lives and our place in the world, you will go on a globe-spanning, time-travelling, media-traversing tour in the 12 lectures of Storytelling and the Human Condition. Your guide is award-winning journalist, author, and storyteller Alexandra Hudson, founder of Civic Renaissance, a community of lifelong learners, which she invites you to join at Civic-Renaissance.com. In this course, she will illuminate the many ways stories shape our lives throughout history and across cultures.
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Lip smacking every 1 minute
- By Meow on 05-06-24
By: Alexandra Hudson, and others
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The American Civil War
- By: Gary W. Gallagher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary W. Gallagher
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
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Between 1861 and 1865, the clash of the greatest armies the Western hemisphere had ever seen turned small towns, little-known streams, and obscure meadows in the American countryside into names we will always remember. In those great battles, those streams ran red with blood-and the United States was truly born.
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Excellent Series
- By Rodney on 07-09-13
By: Gary W. Gallagher, and others
What listeners say about Why Insects Matter
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- CypherDaimon
- 07-09-24
Crash course on insects. Well thought out and presented in an understandable manner.
The topics are broken down into 24 classroom like speeches. Topics range from flying insects, to lifecycles to even pesticides and many more. I learned about the difference between a nymph which is partial metamorphosis versus total metamorphosis. Insects are highly intelligent or adapted and I found out about ant farmers that care for aphids. Much more was to be learned than I can state here but this is a very valuable great courses content that I highly recommend.
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- alsy
- 08-03-22
Insects Certainly Are Very Interesting
The author himself narrated this fascinating set of lectures, so his expression reflected his passion in his subject he's been studying most of his life... I really enjoyed it all.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 03-09-22
What a wonderfully interesting, educational, and well structured course
The narration was fantastic and fun to listen to. I highly recommend listening to this to learn more about the mysterious world of insects around you
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5 people found this helpful
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- Mr. White
- 05-08-22
Not An Entomology Course
These lectures are well-delivered and cover a broad scope of biological/ecological/historical/agronomic/economic material similar to a non-majors insect natural history course. For that, it is well-done, but if you are wanting a college-level entomology course, this is not a good choice. PDF is excellent.
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8 people found this helpful
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- dobby
- 01-16-23
why insects matter
very informative and presented in a manner that anyone can follow. Insects are an important part of our environment . This course illustrates not just their importance but their interesting varieties and characteristics.
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- Slim 'Tech' Sherman
- 05-08-23
Absolutely awesome
I'm so glad such an amazing course is available for people to learn from!
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- Anonymous User
- 06-14-23
Delightful
Excellently engaging, clearly organized. This addresses insects’ roles in ecosystems, their evolution, and the main different types of insects
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- Peter Solis
- 06-18-22
Absolute Must-Listen!
Excellent course! This one was very informative and fun to listen to. Anyone looking to see how much of our natural AND artificial world are dependent on insects should listen!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Michael Doyle
- 02-06-23
An Outstanding Course!!!
Professor Solomon did an Incredible job here folks! I found this course to Fascinating, Entertaining, & Highly Informative! Very Well Written & Well Read, ... Truly Enjoyable. Well Done Sir.
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- michael
- 05-23-22
An unanticipated pleasure
Of the nearly one hundred Teaching Company Great Courses that I have listened to over the years, this ranks among my five or six favorites. It was a surprise to me that I would enjoy these lectures so much on a topic for which I had little prior affection. But the combination of a fascinating subject with the excellence of the presentation was a joy. Being able to share the speaker’s knowledge with his obvious enthusiasm was a privilege. Michael Solomon, MD (no relation)
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6 people found this helpful