Excerpt from the Prologue

"We are born without the fear of nature. Young
children are fascinated with life around them, equallyintrigued by a caterpillar or a dog. The fear of most creatures is instilled in us later in life by overly protective parents or teachers, peer pressure, and misguided media. By the age of ten most children
either love or hate insects and other tiny organisms, and these feelings usually stay with them for the rest of their lives. I could never understand why small animals, including most amphibians and reptiles, evoke such polarized feelings. After all, how many people hate jaguars or elephants, things that can really hurt you? I think it can be explained in part by what psychologists call “prepared learning”—we are quick to learn the fear of snakes because millions of years of human evolution
have favored individuals inclined to avoid them, even if most snakes are not venomous. But what about moths, spiders, or beetles? Why do most people find these animals repulsive, yet happily gorge on lobsters?"