A review by andrew_f
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, by Ed Yong
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
An Immense World is sure to be a hit for nature lovers, especially those that want to learn more about the animal kingdom.
Humans perceive the world primarily through sight and sound, and to a lesser degree touch, smell, and taste. These are known to us as the five senses. But the natural world is teeming with information that animals and plants have developed novel ways to exploit that information for survival, communication, movement, and a host of other reasons. Even these senses humans have are more limited compared to other animals. Most animals can see in the ultraviolet or infrared, can hear higher and lower frequencies, and smell the history of what was. For those that care, humans surpass other animals in some areas (eyesight and touch being areas we excel). Yong reveals a world known only to animals and humans have only scratched the surface of our understanding. Beyond the five senses most of us are familiar with, animals use electric and magnetic field and sonar for navigation. Humans have developed technology based on our understanding of how animals perceived the world.
Each chapter focuses on one of the senses or a subcategory related to the senses and provides fascinating anecdotes or case studies exploring how animals perceive the world in incredible ways. I found the beginning to be the most interesting, but the quality of the content is high throughout. The book ends with a discussion on how humans have impacted the sensory landscape (light and noise pollution being the most obvious) and are essentially performing experiments on the animal kingdom that would be illegal to perform on humans.
I liked that this book opened up my understanding of animal behavior and perception. I was aware of some of these, but many concepts were completely new to me. While the book is scientific, I think the material is presented in a way that readers will easily digest and understand most of the information. It gets technical in a few places, but it is brief. If this topic is new to you and you're at all interested, I highly recommend checking it out. While I understand the print version has footnotes, I feel that the audiobook is a great way to experience the book. The author narrates the book and does a good job and you can tell he's passionate about the subject.
Humans perceive the world primarily through sight and sound, and to a lesser degree touch, smell, and taste. These are known to us as the five senses. But the natural world is teeming with information that animals and plants have developed novel ways to exploit that information for survival, communication, movement, and a host of other reasons. Even these senses humans have are more limited compared to other animals. Most animals can see in the ultraviolet or infrared, can hear higher and lower frequencies, and smell the history of what was. For those that care, humans surpass other animals in some areas (eyesight and touch being areas we excel). Yong reveals a world known only to animals and humans have only scratched the surface of our understanding. Beyond the five senses most of us are familiar with, animals use electric and magnetic field and sonar for navigation. Humans have developed technology based on our understanding of how animals perceived the world.
Each chapter focuses on one of the senses or a subcategory related to the senses and provides fascinating anecdotes or case studies exploring how animals perceive the world in incredible ways. I found the beginning to be the most interesting, but the quality of the content is high throughout. The book ends with a discussion on how humans have impacted the sensory landscape (light and noise pollution being the most obvious) and are essentially performing experiments on the animal kingdom that would be illegal to perform on humans.
I liked that this book opened up my understanding of animal behavior and perception. I was aware of some of these, but many concepts were completely new to me. While the book is scientific, I think the material is presented in a way that readers will easily digest and understand most of the information. It gets technical in a few places, but it is brief. If this topic is new to you and you're at all interested, I highly recommend checking it out. While I understand the print version has footnotes, I feel that the audiobook is a great way to experience the book. The author narrates the book and does a good job and you can tell he's passionate about the subject.