With all due respect to bees, the termite stands as the world's most important insect. Without termites much of life on Earth would essentially evaporate. And yet an individual termite is practically invisible, not to mention wholly reviled by humanity.

For Lisa Margonelli, what begins as a bugtastic obsession becomes an exploration of our future. If we can harness the termite's remarkable ability to remake its environment, will that help us avoid a global food crisis? If we create killer robobugs, what happens if the swarms run off script?

A masterpiece of popular science, Underbug touches on everything from metaphysical meditation, technological innovation and the psychology of obsession to good old-fashioned biology.