This book reminded me a bit of Mary Roach's Stiff in that the author (by her own admission) is not a scientist or expert on the subject, but set out to learn what there was to be known on the subject including talking to lots of experts and reading about Darwin's work on worms. The book is American, but on the whole equally applicable for other countries, though I did have to check up that what she described as a nightcrawler was our common or garden UK 'earthworm'. The chapters are divided into different aspects of worms and their uses, features etc although sometimes the book seems to lack direction a bit. However, overall an interesting and readable intro to worms ( )

Remember 7th grade science class, when you dissected the earthworm? Basically a tube inside a tube, right? I don't remember seeing a brain in there, or learning about one, but it turns out that earthworms possess a sort of intelligence. Darwin knew this - why didn't they tell us that in 7th grade? It might have made them that much more interesting!

Amy Stewart spent a couple of years learning everything she could about earthworms, after becoming smitten with the crew in her worm bin. What she learned is that there's such a dearth of earthworm research that most of those who do study them (oligochaetologists) have to resort to a day job to support the habit. This is greatly due to the fact that there's no real good way to study them - they do not survive well outside of their habitat, and we do not survive in theirs. Since reading this book I've come to think of ground beneath me now as a whole new "ocean" of unseen and largely unexplored life - kinda cool and kinda creepy, all at the same time.

This book does a good job of covering what we DO know about earthworms, and gives us an idea of what we could do with that knowledge to better our earth and our lives (the section on waste water treatment is fascinating). I learned how to keep a better garden (don't till!) and have a added a worm bin to my wishlist.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in gardening, recycling or the earth sciences. It might be a tough sell for someone who doesn't have an inclination in that direction. All in all for me, though, a worthwhile read. ( )

This book changed the way I cultivate my garden. I now let the worms keep their original holes. I liked this book a lot and have a whole new appreciation for worms. ( )

This book is all about earthworms and the work they do, which sounds sort of boring, but was actually fascinating. The author keeps a worm composting bin, and after reading this book, I really wish I had an outdoor space to keep one, too. She discusses earthworm behavior and "intelligence," the distribution of earthworms across the globe, their effects on farming and the ecosystem generally (mostly positive but occasionally problematic), and the potential for using earthworms to combat pollution (for example, in wastewater treatment). If you're interested in organic gardening or farming, this book may be of particular interest. ( )