The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms

by Amy Stewart

Book Overview

In "The Earth Moved," Amy Stewart takes us on a journey through the underground world and introduces us to one of its most amazing denizens. The earthworm may be small, spineless, and blind, but its impact on the ecosystem is profound. It ploughs the soil, fights plant diseases, cleans up pollution, and turns ordinary dirt into fertile land. Who knew? In her witty, offbeat style, Stewart shows that much depends on the actions of the lowly worm. Charles...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565123379
• ISBN13: 9781565123373
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

I never knew earthworms were so fascinating or important!

_The Earth Moved_ by Amy Stewart is one of those somewhat quirky non-fiction books I am fond of, a book that perhaps given its subject matter might not sound immensely attractive reading material but turns out to be very engaging and quite informative. In this case this book is about the earthworm. In thirteen chapters the author looked at some of the most famous members of class Oligochaeta, terrestrial worms long familiar to farmers, gardeners, and fishermen, their biology, history with humanity, those whose lives they affect, and their future relationship with us. The reader learns early on that one of the pioneering researchers of earthworms was the famous Charles Darwin, who spent his final years doing meticulous research on earthworms and writing a much beloved book on the subject. Before he wrote that book if worms were thought of at all they were seen as pests for messing up lawns and were thought to damage plant roots, while in the years after he published people came to embrace the enormous importance of the earthworm in producing soil and altering the landscape. Time and again Stewart would return to Darwin's research and writings on his worms. Darwin found that an acre of garden soil can contain over 50,000 earthworms and yield 18 tons of castings per year (castings are the volume of soil that earthworms swallow and eject as manure). Later findings showed that Darwin's numbers may in fact have been on the low side, as the figure might be one million (earthworms in the Nile valley can deposit up to a thousand tons of castings per acre). Not all earthworms are alike. Some worms are grouped together and referred to as endogeic worms, species that are found fairly deep in the ground around the roots of plants and are rarely seen. Most of the ones possibly encountered by the gardener are small, grayish things but immense ones that never see the light of the day exist, such as the giant Australian earthworm _Megascolides australis_ which can grow to several feet in length (one can hear a gurgling sound deep in the earth when they move) and the two to three foot long possibly extinct giant worm of Oregon (_Driloleirus macelfreshi_). Larger burrowing worms like night crawlers are called anecic worms and live deep in the soil but may come to the surface to find food. Darwin's favorite was the night crawler _Lumbricus terrestris_ which like to form permanent vertical burrows in the soil, leaving tiny mounds of castings alongside the openings. Epigeic worms make their homes in the rotten mulch of a compost pile or in leaf litter on the forest floor, living on the surface of the ground, never deep in the soil. Two of the best known earthworms are epigeic, the "red wriggler" (_Eisenia fetida_) and the "redworm" (_Lumbricus rubellus_); either might be found at the bait stand, a worm compost bin, or a classroom science project. Overall there are over 4,500 earthworm species worldwide and include such weird species as a Philippines worm t

Mysterious Tillers of the Soil

Earthworms are common creatures of soil, compost and leaf litter. Fisherman often use them for bait and gardeners often raise them for their ability to break down compost into usable fertilized soil. Darwin studied these humble creatures and published his last book on them. Although he did not have knowledge that we have of the microorganisms that share the soil with earthworms, and only a minimal understanding of springtails, mites, sowbugs, etc.,which share the earthworm's habitat, he laid the groundwork for at least a smattering of knowledge on these simple, but very strange organisms. In "The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms" Amy Stewart explores this shadowy realm of soil- a habitat at once close at hand and yet in many ways more remote to us than the sea. In a very well-written 200 plus pages she lays before the reader both the known facts and the multidinous mysteries of earthworms. She points out that the very classification of earthworms is far behind that of almost any other creatures on the planet, at least partly because of a lack of researchers in the field (a fact also noted by David Ehrenfeld in his essay "Forgetting", first published in Orion magazine.) There are thus few specialists to document the effects of the invasion of exotic worms into North America (primarily through their use as fish bait.) This invasion has wrought considerable change and in some cases almost certain damage to the native species and habitats. While earthworms can be very important in the formation and aeration of soil, if imported into areas where there were no earthworms (such as the areas of the Great Lakes once covered by vast ice sheets) they become major destroyers of the forest ecosystem. We cannot even tell for certain what species existed in areas that had earthworms before the invasion of the exotic species. Indeed, some species may have already become extinct, such as the giant earthworm once found in Oregon. Beside this, numerous species have never been even described and may not ever be known before they also vanish! It almost does not have to be added that only a few species' life histories are known and that the ecological interactions of native species are basically unknown. All this, and quite a bit more, has been documented by Amy Stewart in her book. While I found a few irritating typos (mites, spiders, scorpions, sowbugs and millipedes are not insects!) generally she is accurate in her statements and the book flows well. I recommend this book to gardeners, naturalists, and anyone who is curious about the fascinating (and very important) life under our feet.

Fascinating subject, appealing presentation

This is a good read! I had no interest in earthworms but saw a good review. The author has researched her subject well and makes it quite accessible to the casual reader. She held my attention with fascinating info (did you know there are different kinds of worms, specialized to deal with different kinds of "dirt"?) and her talented writing. These little critters are astonishingly important in the great scheme of things. I'm glad I learned a little of that, and I enjoyed the humor and sparkle of the writing too.

The Worm Turns Out to Be Fascinating

Even if you aren't a gardener, you probably know that if soil has plenty of earthworms, it is healthy soil. People didn't always know this. It used to be thought that earthworms were parasites, eating at the roots of plants gardeners wanted to flourish. Chief among the instructors that made gardeners change their minds about the humble earthworm was none other than Charles Darwin, who was fascinated by the creatures, experimented on their abilities, and wrote his final book, _The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms, With Observations on Their Habits_, in 1881. Darwin's work, and especially his curiosity and his enthusiasm for what worms do for us, run through all the chapters of _The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms_ (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill) by Amy Stewart. It is always good to be reminded of just how much natural history Darwin taught us in yet another field, rather than merely his overarching Theory of Evolution, but as Stewart shows, there are now microscopic and ecological investigations that Darwin could not have dreamed of, all of which convince her (and she will convince any reader) that the humble earthworm is a soil engineer that has made our world the way it is today.Earthworms till the soil more intimately than any plough. By burrowing, they provide aeration. Earthworm manure (called castings) is highly valued by gardeners, and is even a cash crop for those who raise worms on a large scale. Earthworms promote bacteria in the soil, and most soil bacteria, rather than being bad germs, are useful in such things as converting ammonium to a form of nitrogen that plants can use, and breaking down other complex molecules so roots can absorb them. All that earthworms do has just started to be investigated; they are hard to investigate, because it is hard to see what they are doing without disturbing them, even in laboratory pens. There are species almost everywhere, even in isolated islands, and many of them have yet to be named or investigated. Complete life cycle studies have been done on fewer than a dozen species. Stewart's research has led her to confer with many academic and agricultural types who share her eagerness about her lowly subject. Not all the news is good, because earthworms are not good everywhere. In northern forests, where they are not native, they have been introduced by transplanting non-native plants or by fishermen dumping their unused bait. They are busy destroying the leaf fall that ought to remain on the ground to nurture the ferns, flowers, and seedling trees. But worms do have an important role to play in organic farming, even on large scales, and they can help with the treatment of animal manure or city sewage. At least one scientist has written that in furtherance of agriculture, earthworms are responsible for the development of each of the world's great civilizations.Stewart herself does little experiments on her worms, from the same admirab

A Captivating Tribute!!

Amy Stewart has written a spellbinding treatise on EARTHWORMS!She couples fascinating facts ("one plant in Korea processes eighty tons of sludge every day in a giant earthworm reactor.")with historical research (Charles Darwin's last book was on earthworms) to create an astonishing tribute to one of our most overlooked allies. Ms. Stewart does this with succulent prose that is a joy to read. I've ordered my worms after reading this surprising book, and hope that they enjoy Alaska...This book is lovely, and the author's enthusiasm shines through! A must read!