Always one to champion the underdog, the author of At Night here celebrates 70 things from the world of nature that are maligned by humans and yet manage to beat the odds in some inspiring way, from bacteria to bluebottles, wasps, and even puddles. There's so much we can learn from the natural world, enthuses Dixe Wills, and he brings solid science and sharp wit to these verbal portraits. Katie Ponder's quirky illustrations add considerably to entries on such creatures as the flea, the wild boar, the carrion crow, the common frog, and the European mole, as well as grass, nightshade, lichen, and the one thing that even nature abhors—a vacuum.