Volume 37, Number 14 · September 27, 1990
Triumphs of Colonialism
By John Maynard Smith
The Ants
by Bert Hölldobler, by Edward O. Wilson
Harvard University Press (Belknap Press), 732 pp., $65.00
I remember, some years ago, visiting E.O. Wilson at Harvard. For some reason, he had to leave the room for a few minutes, and during his absence I enjoyed watching a colony of weaver ants with which—I almost wrote with whom—he shared his office. At first sight their movements appeared incoherent and disorganized, but, as I watched, it became clear that they were moving a large prey item toward their nest. This impression of apparent incoherence and actual directedness is often experienced by those who, like me, are unfamiliar with ants. It is similar to the impression one receives looking down a microscope at the cells of a developing embryo. It would also be the perception of a visiting Martian observing the people in a large railway station during the rush hour. This analogy between developing organism, insect society, and human city is not new. It is very much in the minds of the authors of The Ants, as shown for example by their frequent use of the term 'superorganism' for an ant colony. But it is an analogy we do not quite know what to do with: How should we make use of it, in our imagination and our analysis?
Review, 2314 words
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