Although spiders have a universally scary reputation, they are also weirdly fascinating, as this book makes exceedingly clear. This brief account takes us on an evolutionary journey of how spiders came into being and how they successfully conquered almost every corner of the earth, and does so by highlighting the uniqueness of a spider’s biology. Intriguingly, the story revolves around spider silk, and how this innovation allowed spiders to evolve their distinctive lifestyle and gradually adapt to novel environments. This is not a particularly technical book, but there are nevertheless topics that non-biologists are not expected to master. As such, requisite primers that introduce things like evolution, genetics and molecular biology are included throughout.
Co-written by a freelance writer (Brunetta) and an arachnologist (Craig), we get a story that combines narrative flair with scientific rigor, making this book both fun and informative. If you are wondering whether you should read this book, ponder this: Did you know that spiders can produce up to seven different types of silk? Or that these are carefully used in a multitude of ways to create different types of webs? If not, and want to know more, then read on, as you will certainly learn a number of spider facts that will be quite unexpected.
