READER ´ Animal Wise ´ Virginia Morell
Ing exploration into the hearts and minds of wild and domesticated animalsAnimal Wise takes us on a dazzling odyssey into the inner world of animals from ants to elephants to wolves and from sharp shooting archerfish to pods of dolphins that rumble like rival street gangs Morell probes the moral and ethical dilemmas of recognizing that even “lesser animals” have cognitive abilities such as memory feelings personality an yes catch and release hurts fish of who knew birds were such drama ueens? great book for everyone
Virginia Morell ´ Animal Wise BOOK
Animal WiseDid you know that ants teach earthworms make decisions rats love to be tickled and chimps grieve? Did you know that some dogs have thousand word vocabularies and that birds practice songs in their sleep? That crows improvise tools blue jays plan ahead and moths remember living as caterpillars?Noted science writer Virginia Morell explores the frontiers of research on animal cognition and emotion offering a surprising and mov I liked this book I do recommend it to others It begins with a brief history of how we have in the past viewed the cognition and emotions of animals starting with Aristotle moving ahead to the Stoics then René Descartes Voltaire Darwin the Behaviorists Konrad Lorenz Jane Goodall and showing how Donald Redfield Griffin in the 1970s opened up research into cognitive ethology Previously research into how animals think and feel was uite simply not taken seriously It had only been on the level of Skinner’s operant conditioning through the reinforcement of desired behaviors and the punishment of undesired ones After the brief history of animal cognition we progress chapter by chapter from simple creatures to complex ones from ants archer fish parrots rats elephants dolphins gorillas chimpanzees to finally wolves and dogs Looking at specific studies carried out in the late 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century conclusions are drawn about the respective animals’ cognitive abilities self awareness personality traits and emotions The studies have been conducted in countries all over the world Japan Hungary Germany Austria Tanzania the United States and The author is a science writer not a scientist This book grew from her writing in The National Geographic The book reads as an article in the magazine Terms are clearly defined It is well organized and easy to follow Due to our evolutionary background there is that makes us similar to than makes us different from other species It is just nonsense to think that humans alone think and feel This is the book’s central thesis and what it shows It also gives examples of where our capabilities are not as good as in other species and that there is strength in diversity It is time we open our eyes to both what species share and how we differ Why must we incessantly see ourselves at the top of a pinnacle with all other creatures below? If we are made aware of and begin to appreciate the abilities and beauty of other creatures perhaps then we can stop or at least decrease the mass extinction that is occurring today Crassly put can we afford to lose what these creatures can teach us? Perhaps you are wondering what I am so scared of losing I will give just one example Chimpanzees have an instantaneous flash memory MUCH better than humans They are shown a picture for just a teeny bit of a second and they can remember and replicate it I followed the experiment and thought gosh I cannot do that only to discover that no humans can do what they do As we discover other creatures’ abilities they become beautiful in our eyes and we value them We must prevent further extinctionOK so why am I not giving this stars? It is well organized intelligible and has an important message It covers modern day studies The simple answer is that I uite simply liked it but don’t feel I can say I liked it a lot It left my heart unmoved There is a spark that is missing Animals do think and they do share our emotions; that is shown Yet the evidence stays on a clinical level The reader does not get to know any one specific individual creature well; there is no emotional connection When I read Beyond Words What Animals Think and Feel I was so emotionally moved that I felt horrified at the thought of even stepping on a bug Such an emotional response just did not happen here The audiobook is wonderfully read by Kirsten Potter She does nothing wrong The speed and the clarity of the spoken words are perfect