in the course of researching her comprehensive history of fossil fuels, lisa margonelli learned of a theory that would turn termites into gasoline that led not to revolutionary biofuel but lisa margonelli's long obsession with termites. in her astounding book, he follows researchers to namibia, australia and arizona as they study termite behavior and investigate how these creatures who do $20 billion of damage a year in the us can be enlisted not only as a source for fuel but as a model for life. along the way, margonelli who writes a small science column for public square also explores what these teachers can teach us about engineering, climate change, cooperation and cognition. please welcome her to politics and prose . >> thank you so much for coming and thanks to politics and prose for having me . termites can eat books so it's kind of a leap of faith to invite the termites into the bookstore. i got interested in termites in the summer of eight and i am not totally sure that i, well, i definitely had no idea what i was doing and the termites kind of captured me. i was having a ba

in the course of researching her comprehensive history of fossil fuels, lisa margonelli learned of a theory that