Earth Moved

On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms

By: Amy Stewart

Narrated by: Heather Henderson

Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

They destroy plant diseases. They break down toxins. They plough the earth. They transform forests. They’ve survived two mass extinctions, including the one that wiped out the dinosaur. Not bad for a creature that’s deaf, blind, and spineless. Who knew that earthworms were one of our planet’s most important caretakers? Or that Charles Darwin devoted his last years to studying their remarkable achievements?

Inspired by Darwin, Amy Stewart takes us on a subterranean adventure. Witty, offbeat, charming, and ever curious, she unearths the complex web of life beneath our feet and investigates the role earthworms play in cutting-edge science—from toxic cleanups to the study of regeneration.

©2004 Original material © 2004 Amy Stewart. Recorded by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc. (P)2012 (p) 2012 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

“Stewart’s fascination with her subject is infectious, her writing as simple and sleek as the earthworm itself.” ( San Francisco Chronicle)

“Using Darwin’s research as a starting point, [Stewart] delves into their incredible abilities and offers useful tips for the green thumbs in her audience.” ( Entertainment Weekly)

"You know a book is good when you actually welcome one of those howling days of wind and sleet that makes going out next to impossible.” ( The New York Times)

I thought I knew a lot about worms but I was wrong

Would you listen to Earth Moved again? Why?

I have listened to it already multiple times, there is a lot of information in there

What other book might you compare Earth Moved to and why?

I don't know of any other

What about Heather Henderson’s performance did you like?

she did a good job, lots of hard to pronounce latin names.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

documentary about earthworms- the whole world depends on them

Any additional comments?

Lots of information that is excellent, unfortunately there is also a LOT of praise and adoration for Darwin, but even with all that this is an excellent book. I learned a lot.

Interesting read.. some new material

Any additional comments?

This book is okay. It starts with a review of Darwin's work on worms, and circles back to Darwin for the entire book. The author provides some antidotes from her garden, and does a bit of investigation in the field. The authors affection for worms is a little much at times, but this is a book on worms. Can feel a little representative, but doesn't feel long. Overall an easy, interesting read.

Not so interesting

I suppose it's difficult to write an entire book on earthworms There is interesting stuff in the book, but lots of filler and detail that I found to be beyond my average layman's interest in the subject.
I made it through and am glad to have learned quite a bit, but I had to skip parts of some chapters because I wasn't interested in the detail.

Amazing and Exciting presentation of worms

Would you listen to Earth Moved again? Why?

I would absolutely listen to this again. It's absolutely fascinating. I have learned a lot and have a new perspective on worms!

What did you like best about this story?

The story was very personal so I felt connected to the author, Darwin, and the other people (including the worm people and by that I mean worms as people). Considering I have ADHD and it's hard for me to sit still I didn't want to leave or stop the book because it was presented in this way.

Which scene was your favorite?

It was all very fascinating although I did enjoy hearing about Darwin and the Authors love of the worm.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me extremely happy. I'm glad I'm not the only animal nut. I say animal nut because it is hard to find people who think about animals on this level. I appreciated the extreme consideration and detail to attention given to the worm in this book.

Any additional comments?

There is a lot of beneficial information and a good perspective given on the worm. It takes someone who has spent a lot of time on a subject and has a passion for understanding the intercate details. The author did an absolutely amazing job of showing me both. This makes me confident the knowledge she is passing on is well informed and has nothing but the best intentions. This is not to mention I spent some time looking up facts for myself.
Great job Amy Stewart!

great book

I fell asleep listening to this book every day for a week. It was just the write amount of interesting anecdotes and real life experience to feel like you had the advice of an expert.

Everyone needs this knowledge

Earthworms are a vital part of healthy soil. Earth’s healthy soil is being rapidly depleted. Worms are magnificent at what they do, and are a big part of making and keeping soil healthy. My eyes have been opened—I can’t wait to start a worm farm. Thank you Amy Stewart!

Interesting

Well, she's not Mary Roach, very interesting but little humor. Repeats things often, like each chapter was written independently. Still a very good book that should be a textbook, more people need to hear this type of message.

Enthralling!!

The author, Stewart, turned "worms" into a compelling narrative. Maybe it was the part where the worms destroy a forest in Minnesota, crippled agriculture in Pacific Island community, or the fact that Charles Darwin honestly performed actual experiments on worm intelligence and carried the belief that worms were bright and thoughtful creatures.

Through a gentle build up with her experiences in her garden, Stewart quietly led me into a revolutionary understanding of such humble creatures. Stewart introduces an irrelevant seeming earthworm scientist, the dinky journals and lack of funding for such science, and before I knew it I was seeing this political picture of how the ground beneath our feet was actually changing but, because the revolution is out of human sight, a dedicated and thoughtful group of people are working unsung in fighting hunger, solving problems of forest ecology, and discovering that worms themselves are Endangered and Vanishing species in the United States.

The narration by Henderson is literally almost perfect. Spanish language quotes, scientific words, all pronounced beautifully and crisply with a flowing voice that in its gentleness is extremely delighted to be sharing the story.

If you have any whinsy in your soul, or curiosity about the world around you, this book is a pleasant and gentle entry into a completely familiar yet bizarre territory in the soil beneath our feet.

I finished the book in one day, sneaking in listening in between other activities and while driving. I had no idea this was going to be so awesome an experience to listen to.

Bloated magazine article

This book is just ok. I had previously read in Charles Mann’s ‘1491: Americas before Columbus’ that earthworms were wiped out in the northern US by ice age glaciers and that they were only recently reintroduced into Northern America as passengers deposited in ballast from European ships during the colonial period. I believe Mann also mentioned earthworms were currently altering and changing the nature of the forests of Minnesota.

All that was interesting (and is retold in ‘earth moved’). Since I also keep a compost pile (with lots of earthworms), I thought, why not get this book?

And it was ok.. but I didn’t really learn that much new after the first chapter on Darwin’s contributions to earthworm research — which was interesting.

After that, not so interesting. How many times can you hear that earthworms help the soil? And while the author’s own experiences with a commercial bought worm composting box was somewhat interesting, after a while it seemed like filler… there to expand the page count.

All in all, this book would make an excellent journal article, but it lacked much meat, and was, for me, tedious as a book.

What a Surprise!

I am so glad I discovered this book because I love books about quirky and unusual subjects, especially ones about our natural world.
This was so charming and so personal and I learned so much about the earthworms that I struggle to save from puddles during my walks outside after a rain.
I also learned about Darwin's interest in earthworms that I found fascinating.
And although I draw the line about having my own worm bin, I truly appreciate those who do and I will certainly continue to save the worms from those puddles.