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317 reviews for:
Die erstaunliche Wahrheit über Tiere: Was Mythen und Irrtümer über uns verraten
Lucy Cooke
4.23 AVERAGE
317 reviews for:
Die erstaunliche Wahrheit über Tiere: Was Mythen und Irrtümer über uns verraten
Lucy Cooke
4.23 AVERAGE
As a lover of animals, oddities, odd animals, and a clever turn of phrase, this book brought me an enormous amount of joy. I literally cackled out loud multiple times throughout almost every chapter and also learned so much!
2020 Reading Women Challenge #3-A Book About the Environment
2020 Reading Women Challenge #3-A Book About the Environment
Cooke is a captivating writer who reads her work exceptionally well. She conveys humor, wonder, irony, urgency, and pathos when relating her experiences or presenting others’ research.
The array of animals covered here surprised me, and since I listened sporadically, the preoccupation with animal sex wasn’t obnoxious to me. That said, I might’ve liked content warnings for the hyena chapter (graphic description of childbirth) and the chimpanzee chapter (discussion of unethical experimentation on humans, planned but not carried out; and unethical experiments with a chimp).
The array of animals covered here surprised me, and since I listened sporadically, the preoccupation with animal sex wasn’t obnoxious to me. That said, I might’ve liked content warnings for the hyena chapter (graphic description of childbirth) and the chimpanzee chapter (discussion of unethical experimentation on humans, planned but not carried out; and unethical experiments with a chimp).
This book reads like it was written by the love child of Charles Darwin and Mary Roach. There is humor, pathos, and animal facts aplenty. The author’s writing style is easy to read and captured my attention immediately. The love Cooke has for these beasties is quite obvious from the start. Hopefully, given the facts, others will learn to appreciate these maligned characters that occupy the animal world.
Each chapter is devoted (lovingly) to a misunderstood animal, where we find myths debunked through modern science. The reader will learn about sloths, bats, and hyenas, to name a few. The author will discuss how the animals were experimented on/studied over hundreds of years (Who knew that Aristotle was a proponent of spontaneous creation?) then get to modern times, where myths are debunked and the many reasons to love these animals are revealed.
Some of the experiments detailed can be a bit gory, such as when, in the 18th century, the Catholic priest Lazzaro Spallanzani practiced blinding bats in order to find out how they managed to find their way around in darkness. (He also coated them in varnish for another experiment, but I digress). Other tales are edifying and satisfying, such as:
It may sound suspiciously like bogus medieval folk medicine, but from the 1940s through the 1960s the world’s first reliable pregnancy test was a small, bug-eyed frog. When injected with a pregnant woman’s urine, the amphibian didn’t turn blue or display stripes, but it did squirt out eggs 8-12 hours later to confirm a positive result.
Cooke’s book is full of factoids like that one. How can you not love this book? You will learn, you will laugh, and you will be full of obscure information. That sounds like a winner to me.
Each chapter is devoted (lovingly) to a misunderstood animal, where we find myths debunked through modern science. The reader will learn about sloths, bats, and hyenas, to name a few. The author will discuss how the animals were experimented on/studied over hundreds of years (Who knew that Aristotle was a proponent of spontaneous creation?) then get to modern times, where myths are debunked and the many reasons to love these animals are revealed.
Some of the experiments detailed can be a bit gory, such as when, in the 18th century, the Catholic priest Lazzaro Spallanzani practiced blinding bats in order to find out how they managed to find their way around in darkness. (He also coated them in varnish for another experiment, but I digress). Other tales are edifying and satisfying, such as:
It may sound suspiciously like bogus medieval folk medicine, but from the 1940s through the 1960s the world’s first reliable pregnancy test was a small, bug-eyed frog. When injected with a pregnant woman’s urine, the amphibian didn’t turn blue or display stripes, but it did squirt out eggs 8-12 hours later to confirm a positive result.
Cooke’s book is full of factoids like that one. How can you not love this book? You will learn, you will laugh, and you will be full of obscure information. That sounds like a winner to me.
Very good and filled with not only scientific knowledge but history of past beliefs and studied. Once read you will walk away with wonderful facts, and a better understanding to the natural world.
funny
informative
reflective
written and narrated in a super engaging way, this book is also honestly hilarious. it's such a cool look at our historical perception of animals and how it relates to our values. it would be a full 5 stars if it dealt with actual social concepts more sensitively, but that does tend to be uncommon in popsci.
This book doesn't investigate or deal with the complexities of 'scientific knowledge ' and doesn't look at anything intersectionally
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
funny
informative
medium-paced
I've been wanting to read this book for years and I'm so glad i finally got round to it as I loved it! It was written so it was easy to understand and it was full of humour. I learnt a surprising amount about animals I thought I knew so well, it validated my opinions about certain animals (hyenas, vultures and bats) and even has given me some ideas for my dissertation lit review lol. Definitely recommend if you have any interest in animals, animal science or the history of animals
funny
medium-paced