Thibault Serlet
  • Home
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact

Articles

​

The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms

10/23/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms with Observations on their Habits
by Charles Darwin
Published in 1881
326 Pages
Thibault’s Score: 4/5


In the years after he published On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin decided to undertake several case studies to explore the theory of natural selection.


He decides to explore earthworm behavior, and observe how they affect the quality of soil and mould. To do this, he begins by building numerous large pots of dirt which he lays about his house. He then proceeds to observe the behavior and habits of the worms over the next 20 years, until his death.


As usual, I love Darwin’s writing style. It is clear and non-repetive. The book is incredibly well-cited which is rare for a work of the 19th century. I also throughly enjoyed reading through Darwin’s thought process, observations, and experimentations.


Most of the book consists of Darwin explaining his experiments, then explaining his observations from the experiments.


His interesting observations about worms are myriad. He also observes the way they react to different soils, light, heat, sound and numerous other factors. In another experiment, he the worms numerous different foods at once, and seeing which one they eat first, then does a control by feeding the worms the foods one at a time.


The thing that most surprised me is how intelligent the worms were. For example he notices that they are easier to catch when they are distracted by mating or eating, indicating some degree of intelligence. He also observed that the worms would drag leaves into their burrows in a logical manner to seal the entrances. Furthermore, when the worms were exposed to new plants, they learned how to drag them into their dens and eat them.


I recommend this book for all biology lovers who want to learn more about worms.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Thibault Serlet

    Most of my articles are book reviews, but I also write about many other topics.

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact