Dazzled and Deceived
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Mimicry and Camouflage
Peter Forbes
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The remarkable story of how mimicry is used by some of the most extraordinary creatures in the world
Nature has perfected the art of deception. Thousands of creatures all over the world—including butterflies, moths, fish, birds, insects and snakes—have honed and practiced camouflage over hundreds of millions of years. Imitating other animals or their surroundings, nature’s fakers use mimicry to protect themselves, to attract and repel, to bluff and warn, to forage, and to hide. The advantages of mimicry are obvious—but how does “blind” nature do it? And how has humanity learned to profit from nature’s ploys?
Dazzled and Deceived tells the unique and fascinating story of mimicry and camouflage in science, art, warfare, and the natural world. Discovered in the 1850s by the young English naturalists Henry Walter Bates and Alfred Russel Wallace in the Amazonian rainforest, the phenomenon of mimicry was seized upon as the first independent validation of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. But mimicry and camouflage also created a huge impact outside the laboratory walls. Peter Forbes’s cultural history links mimicry and camouflage to art, literature, military tactics, and medical cures across the twentieth century, and charts its intricate involvement with the perennial dispute between evolution and creationism.
As Dazzled and Deceived unravels the concept of mimicry, Forbes introduces colorful stories and a dazzling cast of characters—Roosevelt, Picasso, Nabokov, Churchill, and Darwin himself, to name a few—whom its mystery influenced and enthralled. Illuminating and lively, Dazzled and Deceived sheds new light on the greatest quest: to understand the processes of life at its deepest level.
"It is a long time since I read a book that gave me so much enjoyment and told me so much both about the animal world and about human ingenuity. This is a wonderful story, engagingly told." - Michael Ruse, author of Darwin and its Discontents
"From the great battle of life in nature to the great battlefields of human conflict, mimicry is one of the oldest and most effective tricks in all warfare. In this fascinating synthesis of science, art and history, Peter Forbes chronicles the marvellous and ingenious devices that evolution has produced and humans have designed to deceive foes. Dazzled and Deceived is a delightful journey into our growing understanding of how life imitates art." - Sean B. Carroll, author of Remarkable Creatures and The Making of the Fittest
"[A] unique story of mimicry and camouflage in science, art, warfare and the natural world."—Bookseller
"This is a fascinating exploration of the use of visual trickery to disguise the nature of objects both in the living world and in the military…Overall a wonderful topic that really hasn’t been given enough coverage, especially given its importance in understanding the mechanisms of evolution better, and an excellent book. Highly recommended."— Brian Clegg, Popular Science
‘Forbes tells brilliantly this exciting and colourful story with good anecdotes, bizarre characters and intriguing evidence.’ — Tim Newark, Military Illustrated
‘Here is a book with a wide horizon…Dazzled and Deceived is a fascinating account that provides a window into the biology of camouflage and mimicry along with an insight into the little known interactions between biologists and the military.’ — Peter Smithers, Antenna
“This is a book about scientific concepts; it’s a book about art……an exciting read because Forbes does what all good storytellers do – he reveals and conceals in equal measure.”—Michael Rosen, The Good Book Guide
“…. [A] remarkable book.”—Judith Rice, The Guardian
Publication Date: November 15, 2011
16 pp. illus.
