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Title details for Animal Wise by Virginia Morell - Available

Animal Wise

The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures

by Virginia Morell
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Did 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 practise songs in their sleep? That crows improvise tools, blue jays plan ahead and moths remember living as caterpillars?
Animal Wise takes us on a captivating journey into the inner world of animals, from sharp-shooting archerfish to pods of dolphins that rumble like rival street gangs. A formidable storyteller, Virginia Morell transports us to field sites and laboratories around the world, introducing us to pioneering animal-cognition researchers and their surprisingly intelligent and sensitive subjects. She probes the moral and ethical dilemmas of recognising that even "lesser animals" have cognitive abilities such as memory, feelings, personality and self-awareness—traits that many in the twentieth century felt were unique to human beings. Animal Wise is in the same league as the works of Jane Goodall, Cynthia Moss and Jeffrey Masson.
Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize An ALA Notable Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2013
A Scientific American Best Summer Science Book
A Bark Magazine Favorite Summer Book
'By the end of this compelling book, you wonder why humans have taken so long to accept that our fellow animals think and feel like us.' —Sydney Morning Herald
'Morell passionately and consistently proves her point in this frequently fascinating study of animal behavior.... [She] is a gifted writer with a deep knowledge base that never talks down to the reader or the academic community—no small feat.' —Publishers Weekly
'For most of the 20th Century, animals weren't allowed to have emotions ... But Virginia Morell's new book, Animal Wise, tells a new story. After six years of reporting in 11 different countries, the longtime science journalist is pretty certain: Animals feel. And strongly, as it turns out.' —Wired
'Each chapter takes readers on an adventure alongside researchers as they probe the minds of such disparate creatures as ants, trout, dolphins, elephants and chimpanzees.' —Scientific American

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    January 31, 2014

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781922231383

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781922231383
      • File size: 521 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 25, 2013
      Morell (Ancestral Passions), laying it out on the first page of her survey of various animals' thought processes, declares: "animals have minds. They have brains, and use them, as we do: for experiencing the world, for thinking and feeling and for solving the problems of life every creature faces." That's a bold statement, considering the widely-held theory that animals do not have feelings or the ability to reason, but Morell passionately and consistently proves her point in this frequently fascinating study of animal behavior. Over the course of the book's 352 pages, Morell reveals that rats dream as humans do (they also love to be tickled and can even grasp the concept of playtime), parrots have conversations, elephants grieve, and monkeys and apes conspire with one another. Careful to avoid the cardinal scientific sin of anthropomorphizing her subjects, Morell interviews a wide range of researchers to learn about their methodology and insights into animal cognition. Tempering her enthusiasm and delight for her material, Morell is a gifted writer with a deep knowledge base that never talks down to the reader or the academic communityâno small feat.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 29, 2013
      Morrell takes listeners on a tour the animal kingdom from ants and fish to elephants and chimps, exploring the wide range of research that shows the common traits humans share with animals, and rectifying common misconceptions about animal intelligence or the lack thereof. With an air of authority and a hint of sternness, Kristen Potter captures the tone and style of Morrell exceptionally well. Potter’s straight and serious reading doesn’t provide room for humor—instead she urges listeners to seriously consider the complexity of animals and the ways in which they are similar to human beings. Potter’s deliberate tone makes it easy to listen to the book’s complex information. And the narrator’s congenial and conversational manner matches that of Morrell’s prose, capturing and maintaining listener attention from beginning to end. A Crown hardcover.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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