The Smaller Majority

It's often said that you should buy books of gorgeous, light-saturated photographs for the images alone. Naskrecki's work does contain stunning and unusual nature photographs, even more striking for their subject matter. These photographs—of mites, katydids, grasshoppers, lizards—display life at the smallest scale ("smaller than a human finger"), and we are fortunate for Naskrecki's patience. It's impossible to tell how he took these head-on shots of bugs, views of one insect devouring another or of frogs' eyelids, but the result is beautiful. Not only the photographs are valuable: the writing also shines. Naskrecki's exuberant, expert knowledge of this microscopic world has been distilled down to the most arresting details. Crisp, enjoyable prose, clearly explains complex biological processes. Naskrecki wants to raise awareness of the perils of extinction and habitat loss, but he also wants to reawaken a childish curiosity and delight in the small wonders of the natural world. (Nov.)