An Immense World : : how Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around us

Locations
Call Number: 591.5 Yo, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Science & Nature / Animals / Miscellaneous
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

"The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world.This book welcomes us into a previously unfathomable dimension-the world as it is truly perceived by other animals. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires (and fireworks), songbirds that can see the Earth's magnetic fields, and brainless jellyfish that nonetheless have complex eyes. We discover that a crocodile's scaly face is as sensitive as a lover's fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, and that even fingernail-sized spiders can make out the craters of the moon. We meet people with unusual senses, from women who can make out extra colors to blind individuals who can navigate using reflected echoes like bats. Yong tells the stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, and also looks ahead at the many mysteries which lie unsolved"-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Book submitted by Clown81 on July 6, 2022, 2:26am Interesting book.

Eye-Opening submitted by sdunav on August 7, 2022, 7:02pm This look at the umwelt of different animals is incredible (and if you don't know that term, it's a cool thing to learn right away), but it is pretty dense in some spots - understanding the physics of ultraviolet, echolocation, and sound waves is somewhat beyond me, but your mileage may vary. A lot of the content is going to stick with me and make me think about the natural world in a completely, different way, and that's something I think is fairly rare. It's really wide-ranging, too - he skips from bats to whales to treehoppers to dogs to beetles that sense forest fires. I have a whole new appreciation for all kinds of insects, actually.

Also, although serious, the book is quite funny in several parts, since Yong is such a gifted writer, researcher, and interviewer. The acronym for Artificial Light at Night (streetlights, etc.), for instance, is ALAN - which leads to a footnote about how it seems like the scientific literature is denigrating some dude named Alan, who just increasingly hurts insects, birds, and some other nocturnal animals.

It is an Immense World submitted by kath on June 11, 2023, 9:45am This book is great! There are many little snippets about the way animals and people percieve and navigate the world. Some so ordinary - like your dog! I have a new appreciation for his sniffing everything and have slowed down our walks to allow more. Echolocation is especially interesting.

Fun and informative submitted by sarajowaycee on July 14, 2023, 10:34pm I immediately bought a copy for my dad after starting this book. It's great and fills me with wonder! I enjoyed it so much and read it when I had a hard time relaxing.