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nightangeldk's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book very informing and interesting. It gives a look into they science history of zoology, and how things like religion formed the views on some animals.
It gives some fun stories, but there is also a look into how the welfare of animals used for testing, wasn't always something that was cared about.
It gives some fun stories, but there is also a look into how the welfare of animals used for testing, wasn't always something that was cared about.
emrodav's review
5.0
This book was the perfect blend of interesting facts, lighthearted funniness when appropriate, and seriously scientific when necessary. I wish more nonfiction was like this!
vkadic's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
I really enjoyed reading this book, it is very informative and the information are presented in a very interesting way with a lot of funny insight from the author. I think I really learned a lot of useful and maybe not so useful facts about many animals and it also made me think a lot about the way we humans observe the world and other living things inside it.
wanderingmole's review against another edition
4.0
An insightful and comic curation of fascinating facts and stories about animals, together with the alarming and ridiculous antics of the humans who study them.
“We have much to learn from our centuries of misunderstandings about animals… The magnetic urge to anthropomorphise is our major undoing. We are an insecure species, seeking reassurance about our behaviour from drunk moose and busy beavers, and quick to condemn those creatures that don’t conform to our moral code like indolent sloths, cruel hyenas and dirty vultures. Our discomfort with the truth about these animals reveals a great deal about our hopes as well as our fears…[P]ainting the animal kingdom with our artificial ethical brush denies us the astonishing diversity of life, in all of its blood-drinking, sibling-eating, corpse-shagging glory. We need not be afraid of these behaviours - they are not here to instruct us. Whether a penguin is gay, straight or having sex with a frozen head has no bearing on our own sexuality. Despite what we may think, we are not the centre of the animal universe”
“We have much to learn from our centuries of misunderstandings about animals… The magnetic urge to anthropomorphise is our major undoing. We are an insecure species, seeking reassurance about our behaviour from drunk moose and busy beavers, and quick to condemn those creatures that don’t conform to our moral code like indolent sloths, cruel hyenas and dirty vultures. Our discomfort with the truth about these animals reveals a great deal about our hopes as well as our fears…[P]ainting the animal kingdom with our artificial ethical brush denies us the astonishing diversity of life, in all of its blood-drinking, sibling-eating, corpse-shagging glory. We need not be afraid of these behaviours - they are not here to instruct us. Whether a penguin is gay, straight or having sex with a frozen head has no bearing on our own sexuality. Despite what we may think, we are not the centre of the animal universe”
willowfan's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0