From Booknews:
It is only our own solipsism that prevents humans
from crediting animals with intelligence and
feelings, or so argues biologist Ford (U. of
Wales). With countless examples and in
non-technical language, this books moves through
both family and phylum, debunking common
perceptions of animals as insentient beasts,
arguing that animals not only feel pain, but also
in fact dream, think and communicate, often in
complex ways. Ford examines organisms from
mammals to plants and even microscopic life,
providing examples of intelligent behavior, such
as dolphins rescuing humans and ravens playing on
snowy slopes to the remarkable movements of the
venus-fly trap. He concludes that all life is
intelligent, and that our new goal must be to
understand it. Annotation c. Book News, Inc.,
Portland, OR. |
From Publisher's Weekly:
This study of the abilities of all sorts of
creatures to sense and interact with the world
will leave many readers impressed and at least
buffeted, if not convinced, by the author's
passionate approach. Cambridge University
scientist Ford (Images of Science; Microbe Power)
has in effect written two books at once. The
first surveys many species' social, cognitive and
sensory powers. The second is a call for
eco-awareness and for animal--and plant and
microbe--rights: "All animals and plants
sense their surroundings, and thus they all have
feelings." A chapter on mammals' mental
processes explains how mole rats search and
socialize underground, how primates learn to use
medicinal plants and how prairie dog colonies
learn from experience. Turning to avians, Ford
covers birdsong, echolocation and gulls' mating
postures. Later chapters deal with reactive
abilities among flora and protozoa. A fertilized
ovum, like any single-celled organism, Ford
suggests, has "its own sense"; as to
whether the cell is self-aware, "we know too
little... to decide." Ford's practical
suggestions for reducing cruelty (e.g., vets
should use soft tables) are useful. Most lay
readers will admire his fascinating survey of
creaturely powers and may be sympathetic to his
call to "value the global network of all
plants and animals, and react to their presence
with respect." But though it trails a
dazzling set of facts, Ford's call for "a
new vitalism" seems less scientific (or
philosophical) than quasi-religious--and it's
unevenly argued, though deeply felt. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
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From Internet Book Watch:
How do animals and plants feel and communicate
their feelings? This presents a growing body of
research which demonstrates that animals - and
plants - have emotions and responses just as
valid as human feelings. From birds and how they
see to homing frogs and their shared communities,
this packs in a range of insights on wildlife
communications processes.
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From Library
Journal:
This book could have been an inspiring survey of
behavior and sensation in all living things
(including plants and microorganisms).
Unfortunately, Ford, a prolific science writer
(The Future of Food; Genes: The Fight for Life),
assumes that all of us think of nonhuman
organisms as mindless robots, incapable of
cognition, emotion, or sensation. The author's
assertions to the contrary are so repetitive as
to irritate a reader who already accepts as fact
that animals can think and feel. Anyone who
actually does equate other life forms with
machines will not be convinced otherwise by
affirmations that fish resent captivity, that
plants have a sense of vision, and that protozoa
have a sense of enjoyment. A marginal purchase
for public and academic libraries, particularly
if the collection already contains Marc Hauser's
Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think (LJ
2/1/00), along with David Dusenberry's Life at
Small Scale: The Behavior of Microbes (Freeman,
1996) and/or Paul Simons's The Action Plant:
Movement and Nervous Behaviour in Plants
(Blackwell, 1992. o.p.).--Nancy R. Curtis, Univ.
of Maine Lib., Orono Copyright 2000 Cahners
Business Information.
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