{"product_id":"hidden-creatures-luscious-leeches-bashful-botflies-and-the-wondrous-history-shaping-world-of-parasites","title":"Hidden Creatures: Luscious Leeches, Bashful Botflies, and the Wondrous, History-Shaping World of Parasites","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDINO MARTINS is an award-winning entomologist and evolutionary biologist. A professor at Stony Brook University, he has served as the director of the Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya, founded by Dr. Richard Leakey, and previously as the director of the Mpala Research Centre. He holds a PhD in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University. His research and writing have been featured in \n\u003ci\u003eSmithsonian Magazine, The Guardian, Granta, \u003c\/i\u003e and \n\u003ci\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/i\u003e and on TED and the BBC. He lives on Long Island and in Malindi, Kenya.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"There's an undeniable appeal to learning about creatures we can't see or even feel but that have such a huge effect on our health and well-being--and that's not to mention the charming eccentrics who study them.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An astonishing, eye-opening, and inspiring guide to the world's microscopic marvels, showing how much we can learn from looking closely at the things we fear, and the beauty of nature's hidden mechanisms. Wonderfully revolting and utterly fascinating, it is a thrilling tribute to the interconnectedness of life, full of awe-inspiring detail and gripping facts. It will make you want to rush out and look at puddles through a magnifying glass. Your world will be larger for reading this book.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Chloe Dalton, author of \u003ci\u003eRaising Hare\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Only one man--the uniquely gifted storyteller, exquisitely observant naturalist, and skilled artist Dino Martins--could make the (OK, disgusting) subject of parasites simply sing with fascinating horror. \n\u003ci\u003eHidden Creatures\u003c\/i\u003e presents us with the vampires, hijackers, and other evil geniuses of the natural world who are continually doing their nastiest, best work around \n\u003ci\u003eand\u003c\/i\u003e inside us. It's a gripping page-turner, and you will certainly wash your hands before your next meal.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Carl Safina, author of \u003ci\u003eBeyond Words\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAlfie and Me\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Dino Martins' genius is to make you care about the world's most despised and disgusting creatures--and find them fascinating, vital, and even beautiful. A mind-blowing, eye-watering revelation of a book.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Isabella Tree, author of \u003ci\u003eWilding\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In \n\u003ci\u003eHidden Creatures, \u003c\/i\u003e Martins brings the reader nose-to-glass, up close to a universe in miniature. If you've ever been bitten by a mosquito, plucked a tick or a flea from your dog, dealt with a kid with nits, or suffered an unwelcome bout of intestinal visitors, you'll find yourself compelled by how these encounters unfold and the ways in which these tiny organisms shape entire ecosystems. \n\u003ci\u003eHidden Creatures\u003c\/i\u003e is nature storytelling at its most compulsive--revealing the hidden dramas playing out in backyards, bodies, bloodstreams, and beyond.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Aminatta Forna, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Memory of Love \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Martins invites us to reconsider our boundaries, our assumptions, and our own place within nature's intricate and sometimes mysterious design. \n\u003ci\u003eHidden Creatures\u003c\/i\u003e is deep scholarship animated by story, and story grounded in science, carried through a rare, beautiful, and much-awaited voice. A bold and singular literary achievement.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Caine Prize-winning author of\u003ci\u003e Dust and The Dragonfly Sea\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Martins is a lover of life and a born teacher. \n\u003ci\u003eHidden Creatures\u003c\/i\u003e is about the interconnectedness of life. It is an important and profoundly penetrating book that should be in the libraries of every school, university, and laboratory.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Jonathan Kingdon, author of \u003ci\u003eEast African Mammals\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A fascinating, loving book about the mysterious, vital, and complex lives of the parasites that live under your feet and in your hair. \n\u003ci\u003eHidden Creatures\u003c\/i\u003e is full of stories--atmospheric, hugely informative, and absolutely disgusting. I loved it.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Daisy Hildyard, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Second Body\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Fascinating and profound and cheerfully written. . . . Life would not exist if not for the parasites that prey on it, and recycle it, is this book's mantra. Throughout it all, Martins is an enthusiastic guide. . . . A gorgeous (if squirm-inducing) book on the awe-inspiring ways that 'well and truly life begets death and death begets life.'\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Kirkus Review \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An enlightening overview of parasites. . . . Simultaneously repulsive and intriguing, this will strike a chord with the insatiably curious.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eWelcome to the hidden, squirming world of parasites--some of the most misunderstood creatures with whom we share the Earth (and our bodies). \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Astonishing, eye-opening, and inspiring.\" --Chloe Dalton, author of \u003ci\u003eRaising Hare\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThere is the tapeworm, which can grow 120 feet in length within the gut of a whale; the tsetse fly, a notorious vector of disease that can pierce the skin even of crocodiles with its needle-like mouth; and the most universal symbol of parasitic behavior: the leech. Long villainized as, well, \n\u003ci\u003eparasitic\u003c\/i\u003e, these creatures are actually a vital part of every ecosystem--and Dr. Dino Martins, an award-winning entomologist and biologist from Kenya, has made it his life's mission to demystify these beguiling beings. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eHidden Creatures\u003c\/i\u003e is a journey across the world ten times over--from Martins's home in the wilds of East Africa to the rainforests of Borneo to cities and backyards across the globe. Along the way we encounter brilliant and eccentric experts who join Martins on his adventures to investigate not only parasites but their hosts, from hyraxes and hippos to, of course, humans. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eImmersive, driven by an utterly infectious curiosity, and sure to transform every reader's understanding of these organisms, \n\u003ci\u003eHidden Creatures \u003c\/i\u003ehas the magnetic force of a David Attenborough documentary and introduces a monumental, charming new voice in science writing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/01\/2026 (EAN 9780593804667, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/04\/2026 (EAN 9780593804667, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Knopf Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496200831254,"sku":"9780593804667","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780593804667.jpg?v=1783057405","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/hidden-creatures-luscious-leeches-bashful-botflies-and-the-wondrous-history-shaping-world-of-parasites","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}