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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This was a decent book, I just struggled to get into it. The topic was fascinating. Ravens are such intelligent birds! And it was really cool to read about how the author ran his experiments. They way he thought through his set up and his surprise at the results was really cool to read. It was also interesting how often his papers about those experiments were refused by publishers because they were too 'anthropomorphized'. It's interesting how far we've come since this book was written in acknowledging the intelligence of nonhuman animals, and yet there are definitely people who still say those things today. Overall, it was a decent book and I'm glad I read it.
Less about the mind of a raven and more about every single minute of the author's time spent watching them, how often it rained, how many hours he waited for the birds to show up, how long it takes to climb a tree, how many miles a day he covered while tracking them, etc. Tedious interspersed with some interesting tidbits.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I love ravens, and so there were parts of the book that I liked. Especially observations of ravens in the wild. However, most of his conclusions about raven social behavior are based on his observations of 4 captive-raised ravens in an aviary. It's just bad science to assume that's how ravens would interact in the wild. That said, his investigations of the intelligence capacity of individual ravens is interesting and worthwhile (though ultimately anecdotal). There were at least two instances when he left the captive birds in unsafe situations while he traveled, amounting to unethical negligence.
The writing style is engaging, because he is telling stories about things he did with ravens. I guess I should have expected that. It feels almost autobiographical. Even so, it does compile many years of observations.
I don't actually recommend this book. I do know it has inspired other corvid researchers, so it does ultimately have some value.
The writing style is engaging, because he is telling stories about things he did with ravens. I guess I should have expected that. It feels almost autobiographical. Even so, it does compile many years of observations.
I don't actually recommend this book. I do know it has inspired other corvid researchers, so it does ultimately have some value.
informative
slow-paced
This book, for some reason, took me ages to get through -- I think I started reading it in April! It was still very good, just quite dense, and a hard one to sit down and read for a long time because of all of the information contained within. Heinrich has made an exhaustive study of the habits and quirks of ravens. His biggest area of interest is the measure of their intelligence; much of what ravens do seems incredibly brilliant to humans, but how much of it is innate, how much of it is learned behavior, and how much involves actual reasoning and planning? Heinrich is also fascinated by the many behaviors ravens engage in that don't seem to have any practical purpose, and spends considerable time trying to discern whether they are truly playing, or if there is something instinctual going on. Heinrich is incredibly rigorous in his studies, and thus draws very few hard and fast conclusions, but it is fascinating to realize just how intelligent and mysterious these relatively common birds are. If you are looking for a lighter, faster read on the subject, I recommend In the Company of Crows and Ravens by John M. Marzluff, Tony Angell, and Paul R. Ehrlich; it's less rigorous in terms of the science, but it's an enjoyable book nonetheless.
Heinrich's books are worth mining for one or two little gem sentences that turn up unexpectedly.