BOOK REVIEW
Slithy Toves
Michael Szpir
Lizards are the real-world inspiration for the dragons of medieval fantasies, for reasons that will become obvious to readers of Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity, by Eric R. Pianka and Laurie J. Vitt (University of California Press, $45). This engaging, well-researched volume depicts an amazing variety of lacertilian beasts in its lavish illustrations and deftly examines their bizarre lifestyles and behaviors. Evolution has created some fanciful forms among these reptiles: Consider the African chameleon (Chamaeleo parsoni, far left), whose slothlike patience is matched with a wickedly quick tongue. Or the puny Amazonian leaf-litter gecko (Coleodactylus amazonicus), which weighs only half a gram when it is fully grown and is shown here carrying an egg that can be seen through the surface of its abdomen.—Michael Szpir
About once a month at Sigma Xi headquarters, we liven up the lunch hour with an American Scientist Pizza Lunch talk. In these informal lectures, scientists describe new research to nonscientists. The series is light on jargon but heavy on solid science. Each Pizza Lunch offers an in-depth look at its subject, whether it's bedbugs or the smart grid. Click below to read about and download these talks -- and to subscribe!
