In the world of natural history, few books have had as profound an impact on how we engage with the small wonders of our environment as The Audubon Society Handbook for Butterfly Watchers by Robert Michael Pyle. First published in 1984, this seminal work did more than just list species; it essentially pioneered a new hobby. Before Pyle’s handbook, the study of butterflies—lepidopterology—was largely the domain of collectors with nets and glass-topped cases. Pyle, a visionary lepidopterist and the founder of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, invited the public to trade their nets for binoculars, transforming a consumptive pursuit into a contemplative and scientific one.