Cover Image: Spiders of the World

Spiders of the World

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Member Reviews

This book is a Who's Who of the arachnid kingdom. In the introduction, we are told how typically the body of a spider looks, what all the bits and pieces are called, so we have common ground. Afterwards, we go along the rows of different families within this species, and get shown how to realise what kind of spider you just found in your bed, threatening to come closer than you really liked.

So, I wasn't sure how to put trigger warnings on this and in the end, decided against mentioning any. This book is about <i>spiders</i>. If you are afraid of spiders, don't want to know anything further about them, stay away. Okay? Okay.
I have to add that even though I don't have an arachnophobia, some of these pictures made me queasy, especially the electromicroscope ones because they remind me of the crawlies I have in my bed that make itch and sneeze.

A big plus this book has are the beautiful, high-resolution pictures. While most books work fine regardless of how you consume them, in this case I wouldn't recommend the ebook, as my device and my programm for reading it had some struggles with loading all those shiny pixels. Also, it would be easier with a physical copy to jump back and forth to look up things, and, ultimately, I don't think this is a book to be read like a story. It's more a reference book to look things up, and as such does what it sets out to do.
It proved to not be my cup of tea, but this is due to personal preferences and in no way reflects on the author's knowledge or ability to share it.
It just turned out that while I can happily read hundreds of pages about sharks, after 20 pages about arachnids I want a different topic.

Another problem I had is the language, which is the proper scientific one with Latin phrases. I found it not very accessible, especially as I have no great experience with the natural sciences and also am not an English native speaker.

This book is for you if you are a spider nerd that wants all there is to know about different families and how to spot the differences.

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We lived this book. My kids are absolutely enthralled by it. My son went to bed with the ereader dying to learn more about these creatures. The detail in this book is top class. The photographs are superb and the knowledge that we will add to our collections once it’s all soaked in is mind blowing. We, but particularly my two sons, highly recommend this read!!!

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My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group - Ivy Press for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Spiders of the World - A Natural History’ edited by Norman Platnick in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I am arachnophobic though recently have been trying to understand more about spiders in order to address my clearly irrational fear of them. As a result I requested this informative book to read and review.

Platnick is the editor and main contributor to this volume. He was a highly acclaimed arachnologist and recognised as a world leader in spider taxonomy, the science of describing, naming, and classifying spiders. Most of his publications to date have been scientific monographs.

This is a very detailed work that while written for a general audience provides a great deal of scientific information on spiders from all over the world. Following the Introduction, covering the natural history of spiders, is a catalogue providing 117 in-depth profiles spanning the taxonomic spider families.

Each profile is accompanied by photographs and small maps that indicate where each spider is found in the world, their behaviours, and other details. I found it fascinating to see how some spider species have a wide distribution, while others are confined to small areas of the planet. It concludes with a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

I will admit that some of the photos did trigger fear responses especially some of the extreme closeups of spider faces, while others were quite cute.

There is no doubt that this is a brilliant guide to all things arachnid. I learned some fascinating things about spiders and it definitely increased my understanding of their roles in nature. Rather than feel fear, I marvelled at their complexity. A very important step in tackling my arachnophobia!

I would expect this attractive hardback would be of interest to anyone interested in spider taxonomy. It’s likely also to find a place in the natural history section of both school and public libraries.

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