Because so many people, if not most, really don't know insects all that well and casually write them off as "pests" to be exterminated for?numerous?reasons, I'm?thrilled that Steve Nicholls could answer a few questions about his easy-to-read, fascinating, beautifully?illustrated landmark new book?Alien?Worlds: How Insects?Conquered the Earth, and Why Their?Fate?Will Determine Our Future.

因為很多人，如果不是大多數(shù)人，真的不太了解昆蟲，并隨意地把它們當作“害蟲”，有很多理由要消滅它們，我很高興史蒂夫·尼科爾斯能回答一些問題，關(guān)于他易于閱讀，引人入勝，插圖精美的里程碑式的新書《異形世界:昆蟲如何征服地球，以及為什么它們的命運將決定我們的未來》

Marc Bekoff: Why did you write?Alien?Worlds?

Marc Bekoff:你為什么要寫《異形世界》?

Steve Nicholls: I’m a flag-waving enthusiast for insect-kind, yet so many people that I meet just dismiss them as nothing but pests or a?nuisance?or see them as something to be frightened of, if they even notice them at all. Very few people recognize the?vital?role that insects play in keeping our planet?ticking along. However, whenever I give talks or lead field trips, and shine a light on the?intimate?details of insect lives, people soon become?fascinated. Back in 1968, at an International Union for the?Conservation?of Nature conference, a Senegalese forester, Baba Dioum, pointed out that "in the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught." In?writing?Alien?Worlds, I hope to bring a deeper understanding of the insect world and, who knows, maybe even a bit of love.

史蒂夫·尼科爾斯:我是昆蟲類的狂熱支持者，但我遇到的很多人只是把它們當作害蟲或討厭的東西，或者把它們看作是可怕的東西，如果他們注意到它們的話。很少有人認識到昆蟲在維持地球運轉(zhuǎn)中所起的重要作用。然而，每當我發(fā)表演講或帶領(lǐng)實地考察，揭示昆蟲生活的私密細節(jié)時，人們很快就會著迷。早在1968年，在國際自然保護聯(lián)盟的一次會議上，塞內(nèi)加爾護林員巴巴·迪烏姆(Baba Dioum)指出:“最終，我們只會保護我們所愛的;我們只會愛我們所理解的;我們只會理解我們被教導(dǎo)的東西?！痹趯憽懂愋问澜纭返倪^程中，我希望能給昆蟲世界帶來更深刻的理解，誰知道呢，也許還能帶來一點愛

MB: Who is your intended audience?

你的目標受眾是誰?

SN: Although the book delves into the latest science in many areas of entomology, it’s intended for a broad and general audience. Working as a wildlife and science filmmaker for such a long time has taught me that even complex ideas can be made easily accessible if they are turned into a well-told story.

SN:雖然這本書深入研究了昆蟲學(xué)許多領(lǐng)域的最新科學(xué)，但它是面向廣大普通讀者的。長期從事野生動物和科學(xué)電影制作人的工作教會了我，即使是復(fù)雜的想法，如果變成一個講得好的故事，也可以很容易地實現(xiàn)。