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Built by Animals
From termite mounds and caterpillar cocoons to the elaborate nests of social birds and the deadly traps of spiders, the constructions of the animal world can amaze and at times even rival our own feats of engineering. But how do creatures with such small brains build these complex structures?
What drives them to do it?
In this fascinating volume, Mike Hansell looks at the extraordinary structures that animals build--whether homes, traps, or courtship displays--and reveals what science can tell us about this incredible behavior. We look at wasp's nests, leaf-cutting ants, caddis flies and amoebae, and even the
extraordinary bower bird, who seduces his mate with a decorated pile of twigs, baubles, feathers, and berries. We discover how some animals produce their own building materials, such as the silk secreted by spiders to weave an array of different web and traps, or the glue some insects produce to
hold their buildings together. And we learn how a vast colony of social insects can create nests which may penetrate up to twenty feet into the ground and house millions of individuals--all built by tiny-brained animals repeating many simple actions as they roam randomly around the structure.
Hansell also sheds light on how animal buildings have evolved over time, how insect societies emerged, how animals can alter their wider habitat, and even whether some animals have an aesthetic sense. Finally, he shows how animal structures may reveal clues to the origins of our own tool use and
appreciation of beauty.
Built by Animals offers a colorful account of a facet of animal behavior that will delight anyone interested in the natural world.
What drives them to do it?
In this fascinating volume, Mike Hansell looks at the extraordinary structures that animals build--whether homes, traps, or courtship displays--and reveals what science can tell us about this incredible behavior. We look at wasp's nests, leaf-cutting ants, caddis flies and amoebae, and even the
extraordinary bower bird, who seduces his mate with a decorated pile of twigs, baubles, feathers, and berries. We discover how some animals produce their own building materials, such as the silk secreted by spiders to weave an array of different web and traps, or the glue some insects produce to
hold their buildings together. And we learn how a vast colony of social insects can create nests which may penetrate up to twenty feet into the ground and house millions of individuals--all built by tiny-brained animals repeating many simple actions as they roam randomly around the structure.
Hansell also sheds light on how animal buildings have evolved over time, how insect societies emerged, how animals can alter their wider habitat, and even whether some animals have an aesthetic sense. Finally, he shows how animal structures may reveal clues to the origins of our own tool use and
appreciation of beauty.
Built by Animals offers a colorful account of a facet of animal behavior that will delight anyone interested in the natural world.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published January 3, 2007
12 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 23, 2015
This is not a book full of gorgeous full colour photographs of bowers made by birds, chimpanzee tools, termite nests, etc. I was a bit baffled to see someone giving it less stars because it isn’t that kind of book. Instead, it’s a book that goes into how making structures and using tools could be evolved, and whether it’s automatically a sign of intelligence. To me, the point begins to get a bit laboured, because I can well believe that small changes, small steps, can build up to huge effects. I mean, that’s evolution for you. That’s how it works.
The interesting thing, perhaps, is that Hansell would like to be more optimistic about the link between intelligence and tool use, and yet has to acknowledge that the data really doesn’t support it. In consequence, if Hansell told me something is a sign of intelligence, I’d be inclined to believe him. He doesn’t blind himself to the actual data through wanting a certain outcome.
My main issue with this was really the way it sort of… tailed off. There’s a final chapter talking about birds and whether they create art, and perhaps how art developed in humans, and — then there’s nothing. No conclusion. Even the chapter seems to end a bit weakly. I’d like to see something that synthesises the whole argument and presents it in a nutshell, along with any points about data yet to be collected that could shed more light on the issues. I’m sure Hansell could’ve done that; all the info is there. But this critique is maybe more the English Lit graduate part of me.
Originally posted here.
The interesting thing, perhaps, is that Hansell would like to be more optimistic about the link between intelligence and tool use, and yet has to acknowledge that the data really doesn’t support it. In consequence, if Hansell told me something is a sign of intelligence, I’d be inclined to believe him. He doesn’t blind himself to the actual data through wanting a certain outcome.
My main issue with this was really the way it sort of… tailed off. There’s a final chapter talking about birds and whether they create art, and perhaps how art developed in humans, and — then there’s nothing. No conclusion. Even the chapter seems to end a bit weakly. I’d like to see something that synthesises the whole argument and presents it in a nutshell, along with any points about data yet to be collected that could shed more light on the issues. I’m sure Hansell could’ve done that; all the info is there. But this critique is maybe more the English Lit graduate part of me.
Originally posted here.
April 19, 2012
Interesting yet lacking in illustration. Hansell often delves into evolution and why animal architecture is important. While those endeavors are pleasant to read I would have enjoyed the book much more if it was focused on case studies of animal architecture and filled with illustrations. It mostly is not. It features a considerable number of examples which are explained shortly and leave a lot to be desired. Nevertheless it is an illuminating read and will make every architect feel less alone the next time he or she sees a spider or a nest-building bird.
February 4, 2008
Stimulating premise, this book is. Worth reading. Author translates text into lay person speak to some success. Parts drag and too much scientific speak for me at times. Glad I read it though. Wish author tied animal building into human construction more.
August 25, 2010
I enjoyed the first few chapters about mammals and birds, but got bored and gave up during the chapters about termites and ants.
May 30, 2024
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I am on the quest for promoting lesser-known books here on Goodreads and make your reading experience more varied. Click on the link above if you want to add this book to your TBR.
Built by Animals by Mike Hansell is a book about the diversity and ingenuity of animal architecture. But more than that it's about the guiding principles or the lack thereof when we investigate the builders of natural world. That's what makes Built by Animals a semi-specialist book and not a popular science book.
One major question explored in this book is how closely related is tool use to intelligence in animals? Why must we think that spiders are very intelligent because they weave orbs of various designs to trap prey?
Hansell cautions us about two forces that distort our understanding of nature's builders. One is our emotional attachment to animals and the second is anthropomorphism. Thinking that termites build mounds like ziggurats and are social like humans makes it difficult to acknowledge their skills and cognitive abilities on a daily basis. Furthermore, it makes us humans feel special which defeats the purpose of studying animal behavior and intelligence in situ. And the third distortion is assuming that animals leave behind products of their behavior. Mountain gorillas, for example, have shown to have 256 recognizable handling techniques while handling spiny thistles for eating. It's like 256 ways of folding a leaf like origami (even origami has its limits?) and putting it in mouth. But to us humans, it looks like eating.
With these three initial cautionary points in mind, Hansell delves into the world of burrowing and building habits of animals like badgers and naked mole-rats. These creatures are called ecosystem engineers because they alter the physical environment with their building activities. Some of these building structures like rodent tunnels and marine worm tubes in muddy substrates are home to squatters. Bird nests are often found in rodent tunnels.
There is a fascinating chapter on ants, termites, and wasps that describe emergent properties or appearance of a higher order of organization as a consequence of lower-order instructions. Case in point being the inclusion of pentagons among hexagonal cells to make curved wasp nests just like Buckminsterfullerene. The book has many other examples of unique building behaviors.
I am on the quest for promoting lesser-known books here on Goodreads and make your reading experience more varied. Click on the link above if you want to add this book to your TBR.
Built by Animals by Mike Hansell is a book about the diversity and ingenuity of animal architecture. But more than that it's about the guiding principles or the lack thereof when we investigate the builders of natural world. That's what makes Built by Animals a semi-specialist book and not a popular science book.
One major question explored in this book is how closely related is tool use to intelligence in animals? Why must we think that spiders are very intelligent because they weave orbs of various designs to trap prey?
Hansell cautions us about two forces that distort our understanding of nature's builders. One is our emotional attachment to animals and the second is anthropomorphism. Thinking that termites build mounds like ziggurats and are social like humans makes it difficult to acknowledge their skills and cognitive abilities on a daily basis. Furthermore, it makes us humans feel special which defeats the purpose of studying animal behavior and intelligence in situ. And the third distortion is assuming that animals leave behind products of their behavior. Mountain gorillas, for example, have shown to have 256 recognizable handling techniques while handling spiny thistles for eating. It's like 256 ways of folding a leaf like origami (even origami has its limits?) and putting it in mouth. But to us humans, it looks like eating.
With these three initial cautionary points in mind, Hansell delves into the world of burrowing and building habits of animals like badgers and naked mole-rats. These creatures are called ecosystem engineers because they alter the physical environment with their building activities. Some of these building structures like rodent tunnels and marine worm tubes in muddy substrates are home to squatters. Bird nests are often found in rodent tunnels.
There is a fascinating chapter on ants, termites, and wasps that describe emergent properties or appearance of a higher order of organization as a consequence of lower-order instructions. Case in point being the inclusion of pentagons among hexagonal cells to make curved wasp nests just like Buckminsterfullerene. The book has many other examples of unique building behaviors.
October 11, 2022
This book does essentially exactly what its title promises: It maps a litany of different methods of building by creatures, from microscopic bacteria to primates to termites to beavers to crows. As an overview of the methods employed, it is thorough and enjoyable, if a little dry.
An easy complaint with the book is that, while it regularly advises against human-centric thinking (such as comparing the building methods of animals to that of humans), often in the same paragraph, Hansell uses humanist ideas to confirm his own biases about nonhuman construction. He creates comparisons between primate 'intelligence' and human, but never acknowledges other possible forms of intelligence. This comes to a fore in a chapter on the use of tools, where there is little quarter given to experimental or non-western theories on non-human behaviours, instead insisting on traditional western thought about how brain size affects behaviour. This positioning is a small bugbear, however, in a book that is otherwise an adequate, broad and interesting dive into the many homes that are built by the countless critters that share this planet with us.
An easy complaint with the book is that, while it regularly advises against human-centric thinking (such as comparing the building methods of animals to that of humans), often in the same paragraph, Hansell uses humanist ideas to confirm his own biases about nonhuman construction. He creates comparisons between primate 'intelligence' and human, but never acknowledges other possible forms of intelligence. This comes to a fore in a chapter on the use of tools, where there is little quarter given to experimental or non-western theories on non-human behaviours, instead insisting on traditional western thought about how brain size affects behaviour. This positioning is a small bugbear, however, in a book that is otherwise an adequate, broad and interesting dive into the many homes that are built by the countless critters that share this planet with us.
May 31, 2017
This was an alright book regarding animal behavior. Most examples that were covered in depth were invertebrates, with occasional descriptions of vertebrate animals. Maybe there are just not as many vertebrate species participating in building behavior. Overall, I enjoyed the descriptions of different nest building behaviors and the leading hypothesis behind their construction. The book also touched on tool use and artistic behaviors like those seen in bower birds. At these last two topics, the focus turned to finding answers of why humans exhibit these traits and how they came to be common in our species. Could other species that use tools or make artistic choices help us understand ourselves? As the book drifted in this direction, although touching on very interesting concepts, it seemed to have pulled away from the title. I felt mislead and that I had not read what I had expected to find. It really did have good intriguing examples and is well written, but just seemed to miss some of what I had anticipated.
July 28, 2022
This is it. This is the book that started my scientific reading hobby. Despite that I don’t remember much from it despite only reading it 2 years ago. I need to reread it
July 14, 2012
A wonderful little book, full of delights of natural history on small and epic scale. Hansell does a great job of describing the various things animals build- namely nests, traps, and tools, and extrapolating the evolutionary sources and implications of each. He also successfully incorporates interesting considerations of human building behavior, such as the cunning fact that humans are the only invertebrate to make traps. That's a bit stunning when you think of it- 500 million years of vertebrate evolution, and only one trap-maker. The final chapter contains some fascinating musings on the role of beauty in sexual selection, and uses the example of the Australasian bowerbirds as a group of species whose architectural impulses seem to be demonstrating not strength or virility but aesthetic depth. He has more interesting things to say about how that related to humans and to our evolution. Great stuff.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews