Morell - Animal wise: how we know animals think and feel

Praise for ANIMAL WISE

For most of the twentieth 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 eleven different countries, the longtime science journalist is pretty certain: Animals feel. And strongly, as it turns out.

Wired

Virginia Morell sheds light on the many surprises of cognitive awareness of animals.

San Francisco Chronicle

Charming [Animal Wise] has a nice arc to its structureworking from generally more basic (although still remarkable) cognitive abilities of creatures like adventurous ants to the complex thinking of chimpsand it is threaded through with philosophical questions that are as thought-provoking as the creatures and experiments she chronicles.

Smithsonian magazine

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

Animal Wise presents the latest research on the cognitive processes and emotional expressions manifested in animal behavior [and] reveals a dazzling, amazing world of animal behaviors.

Portland Oregonian

For page after exciting page, [Morell] shows [animals] making decisions, remembering the past, planning the future, and helping others in distress She resists the urge to close her fine book with musings on what makes humans special. Bravo. It's humbler, wiser, and more instructive to stop looking down at animals from an imaginary evolutionary pinnacle and, instead, to try to see them as fellow thinking, feeling beings with minds as worthy of understanding as our own.

Sy Montgomery, The American Scholar

Heart- and brain-stirring An unprecedented tour about what goes on in the hearts and minds of our fellow beings, from the laughter of rats to the intellectual curiosity of dolphins.

Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

Moving and entertaining [Morell] takes a journalist's approach to the question of animal minds, but shows a deep compassion and empathy for her subjects In the process, she challenges us to rethink our ethical obligations to the creatures who share our world.

Liza Gross, KQED.org

There aren't enough words in the English language to do justice to Animal Wise This remarkable book by Virginia Morell is transcendent Readers will be dazzled by the profound insights being gained through scientific study.

Examiner.com

Each chapter presents some fascinating and surprising observations [Animal Wise] is a good read; it is entertaining and thought-provoking.

Tucson Citizen

Thank goodness for sensitive and compassionate writers like Virginia Morell She has written a stunning volume charting the latest research on wild and domestic animal cognition and emotions.

Spirituality and Practice

Animal Wise brings up a lot of important questions. I would recommend [it] for anyone who cares about animals, not only for the wonders it reveals but for the chance it offers to make a difference in their lives.

EcoLit Books

A joyous, globe-trotting trek through the suprising and not-so-suprising intelligentsia of the animal kingdom.

Mark Wood, Pomona Today

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 communityno small feat.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

[A] delightful exploration of how animals think Morell makes a fascinating, convincing case that even primitive animals give some thought to their actions.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A fascinating and intellectually sweeping overview of the new science of animal cognition. With Morell's unusual ability to capture the passion and humanity of these scientists, this extraordinary book is an impressive treatment of animal minds and a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered what is going on in the heads of the creatures we share our world with.

Hal Herzog, author of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat

Animal Wise is thoroughly and meticulously researched. And it's a page-turnera window to the natural world that will change the way we view other species. We place ourselves at the top of the evolutionary ladder. Of course we do. We invented the ladder. In her marvelous book, Morell displays the folly of this viewpoint. Animal Wise is fabulous!

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs

Science writing at its best Novice readers will be enthralled to learn about the intelligence of the creatures in this book, and experts will be extremely pleased to see how she makes their work and that of their colleagues accessible to everyone.

Irene Pepperberg, author of Alex & Me

A lively tour of what we have learned about the emotions and intelligence of animals. By inviting scientists to tell their personal side of the story, she not only brings the animals closer but also the thrill of discovery.

Frans de Waal, author of The Age of Empathy

These animals have incredible minds. Now, thanks to Morell, they have a voice. I love this book. It makes me even prouder to share this Earth with our nonhuman kin.

Jennifer S. Holland, author of Unlikely Friendships

Anyone who reads this book will be changed forever in their view of life on earth.

Richard E. Leakey, FRS, Stony Brook Professor of Anthropology and author of The Sixth Extinction

The scientific expertise Virginia Morell provides to this very important subject, and the way she ties this in with the researchers who know their animalsbecause knowing them is their life's workmake this an important book and a great read.

Bernd Heinrich, author of Life Everlasting

Animal Wise brings the reader into the lab and field to learn firsthand from the scientists that marvel over the minds of other animals Each page allows you to anticipate, sweat, grieve, and celebrate with dedicated scientists as you discover and experience their worlds, and those within the minds of the astounding animals that they study.

John Marzluff, Professor of Wildlife Science, University of Washington, and author of Dog Days, Raven Nights and Gifts of the Crow

Thought-provoking and highly engaging.

Joyce Poole, PhD, Codirector of ElephantVoices, member of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, and author of Coming of Age With Elephants

In sprightly and clear prose Virginia Morell enters the world of animals with respect and insight and with the compelling argument that our lives differ only in degree This is a fascinating, timely, and important book.

George B. Schaller, Panthera and Wildlife Conservation Society

From ants to apes, Animal Wise covers wide-ranging scientific research on the cognitive and emotional capacities of many different non-human animals. Noted author Virginia Morell writes clearly and concisely, and this easy read will surely be good for animals because we must use what we know about them to make their lives better in an increasingly human dominated world.

Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals and The Animal Manifesto, and editor of Ignoring Nature No More

It is nice to see a science writer of Virginia Morell's distinction take on this increasingly important topic, and it is good to have her calm and careful voice added to the conversation. She has a great deal to teach us about the latest research on the frontiers of this fascinating new world.