Six Legs Better: A Cultural History of Myrmecology (Animals, History, Culture)

Ants long have fascinated linguists, human sociologists, and even cyberneticians. At the end of the nineteenth century, ants seemed to be admirable models for human life and were praised for their work ethic, communitarianism, and apparent empathy. They provided a natural-theological lesson on the relative importance of humans within creation and inspired psychologists to investigate the question of instinct and its place in the life of higher animals and humans. By the 1930s, however, ants came to symbolize one of modernity's deepest fears: the loss of selfhood. Researchers then viewed the ant colony as an unthinking mass, easily ruled and slavishly organized.In this volume, Charlotte Sleigh uses specific representations of ants within the field of entomology from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries to explore the broader role of metaphors in science and their often unpredictable translations. Marking the centenary of the coining of "myrmecology" to describe the study of ants, Six Legs Better demonstrates the remarkable historical role played by ants as a node where notions of animal, human, and automaton intersect. (2007) This "provocative, complex" cultural history examines how the study of ants influenced shifting perceptions of humanity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries ( Times Literary Supplement , UK). Ants long have fascinated linguists, human sociologists, and even cyberneticians. At the end of the nineteenth century, ants seemed to be admirable models for human life and were praised for their work ethic, communitarianism, and apparent empathy. They provided a natural-theological lesson on the relative importance of humans within creation and inspired psychologists to investigate the question of instinct and its place in the life of higher animals and humans. By the 1930s, however, ants came to symbolize one of modernity's deepest fears: the loss of selfhood. Researchers then viewed the ant colony as an unthinking mass, easily ruled and slavishly organized. In this volume, Charlotte Sleigh uses specific representations of ants within the field of entomology from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries to explore the broader role of metaphors in science and their often unpredictable translations. Six Legs Better demonstrates the remarkable historical role played by ants as a node where notions of animal, human, and automaton intersect.

Ants long have fascinated linguists, human sociologists, and even cyberneticians. At the end of the nineteenth century, ants seemed to be admirable models for human life and were praised for their work ethic, communitarianism, and apparent empathy. They provided a natural-theological lesson on the relative importance of humans within creation and inspired psychologists to investigate the question of instinct and its place in the life of higher animals and humans. By the 1930s, however, ants came to symbolize one of modernity's deepest fears: the loss of selfhood. Researchers then viewed the ant colony as an unthinking mass, easily ruled and slavishly organized.

In this volume, Charlotte Sleigh uses specific representations of ants within the field of entomology from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries to explore the broader role of metaphors in science and their often unpredictable translations. Marking the centenary of the coining of "myrmecology" to describe the study of ants, Six Legs Better demonstrates the remarkable historical role played by ants as a node where notions of animal, human, and automaton intersect.

Ants long have fascinated linguists, human sociologists, and even cyberneticians. At the end of the nineteenth century, ants seemed to be admirable models for human life and were praised for their work ethic, communitarianism, and apparent empathy. They provided a natural-theological lesson on the relative importance of humans within creation and inspired psychologists to investigate the question of instinct and its place in the life of higher animals and humans. By the 1930s, however, ants came to symbolize one of modernity's deepest the loss of selfhood. Researchers then viewed the ant colony as an unthinking mass, easily ruled and slavishly organized. In this volume, Charlotte Sleigh uses specific representations of ants within the field of entomology from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries to explore the broader role of metaphors in science and their often unpredictable translations. Marking the centenary of the coining of "myrmecology" to describe the study of ants, Six Legs Better demonstrates the remarkable historical role played by ants as a node where notions of animal, human, and automaton intersect. In This Volume, Charlotte Sleigh Uses Specific Representations Of Ants Within The Field Of Entomology From The Late Nineteenth To Mid-twentieth Centuries To Explore The Broader Role Of Metaphors In Science And Their Often Unpredictable Translations. Marking The Centenary Of The Coining Of Myrmecology To Describe The Study Of Ants, Six Legs Better Demonstrates The Remarkable Historical Role Played By Ants As A Node Where Notions Of The Animal, Human, And Automaton Intersect.--book Jacket. Part I Psychological Ants 21 -- 1 Evolutionary Myrmecology And The Natural History Of The Human Mind 23 -- 2 A (non- ) Disciplinary Context For Evolutionary Myrmecology 38 -- Part Ii Sociological Ants 63 -- 3 From Psychology To Sociology 65 -- 4 The Brave New World Of Myrmecology 82 -- 5 The Generic Contexts Of Natural History 96 -- 6 Writing Elite Natural History 119 -- 7 Ants In The Library: An Interlude 139 -- Part Iii Communicational Ants 163 -- 8 The Macy Meanings Of Meaning 167 -- 9 From Pheromones To Sociobiology 190. Charlotte Sleigh. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [231]-294) And Index. The Johns Hopkins University Press contents 6 acknowledgments 8 part i psychological ants 32 1 Evolutionary Myrmecology and the Natural History of the Human Mind 34 2 A (Non-)Disciplinary Context for Evolutionary Myrmecology 49 part ii sociological ants 74 3 From Psychology to Sociology 76 4 The Brave New World of Myrmecology 93 5 The Generic Contexts of Natural History 107 6 Writing Elite Natural History 130 7 Ants in the Library: An Interlude 150 part iii communicational ants 174 8 The Macy Meanings of Meaning 183 9 From Pheromones to Sociobiology 206 Conclusion 235 Notes 247 Essay on Sources 303 Index 311 Number,Of,Pages:,320,Publication,Date:,2007-02-02,ISBN-10,/,ASIN:,0801884454,ISBN-13,/,EAN:,9780801884450 Number Of Pages:,320,Publication Date:,2007-02-02,ISBN-10 / ASIN:,0801884454,ISBN-13 / EAN:,9780801884450