Scan barcode
A review by studiomikarts
The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
This book was so epically awesome, I am having a hard time figuring out how to put my experience into words. I'm tempted to just copy-paste all my reading notes and let them do the talking! But that would make my review tiresomely long, so I'll just use the notes to guide me, per usual.
TL;DR: My first impression of the book was excellent, and it remained so throughout. If you want to learn awesome new scientific things about birds, read no further. Just get yourself a copy of the book! Or, for more details, read on...
A prevailing theme that I deeply appreciated was humanity's arrogance and narcissism, particularly when dealing with other species. Time and again, this book showed that we're simply not that special. Birds, we have finally realized, not only possess language, art, music, play, cunning, tool creation and use, problem solving skills, the ability to wield fire, the ability to recall the past and plan for the future, and more abilities that humanity has vainly attempted to claim as sole-owner, birds are often more skilled than we are in these things, and certainly possess other traits, such as a keen sense of smell or the ability to see colors literally beyond our imagination, that put we egotistical apes to shame.
In a similar vein, the book pointed out the sexism inherent in most science, which is only now beginning to be left behind, and the way it has not only prevented human females from participating fully in scientific inquiry, but has skewed scientific results for ages due to assumptions made about other female animals, as well. This book actually made me think more critically about science in general, thanks to multiple examples of animals dying often horrific deaths while trapped by researchers, and by pointing out that research on animals does not serve any practical purpose, we just do it because learning is fun. Which makes the heartless way we go about it even more disturbing.
While most people might not gain this particular benefit from the book, I also found it a valuable resource for my fantasy novel project. I'm writing about gryphons, so learning about so many interesting and wildly varied bird species--such as kea, Caledonian crows, ravens, bowerbirds, little hermit hummingbirds, lyrebirds, vultures, oilbirds (we need a new name not based on the reason we have killed so many of them), antbirds, fairy-wrens, and many, many more--has given me tons of inspiration for my characters and their world. The book even gave me a scientific placement for my fantasy world in time and space, how epic is that?!
There are plenty more details I could share from my reading notes, but I think this is enough to help anyone decide whether this book is worth their time. It was definitely worth mine, and it will be remaining on my shelf for reference and perhaps even a complete reread in the future!
TL;DR: My first impression of the book was excellent, and it remained so throughout. If you want to learn awesome new scientific things about birds, read no further. Just get yourself a copy of the book! Or, for more details, read on...
A prevailing theme that I deeply appreciated was humanity's arrogance and narcissism, particularly when dealing with other species. Time and again, this book showed that we're simply not that special. Birds, we have finally realized, not only possess language, art, music, play, cunning, tool creation and use, problem solving skills, the ability to wield fire, the ability to recall the past and plan for the future, and more abilities that humanity has vainly attempted to claim as sole-owner, birds are often more skilled than we are in these things, and certainly possess other traits, such as a keen sense of smell or the ability to see colors literally beyond our imagination, that put we egotistical apes to shame.
In a similar vein, the book pointed out the sexism inherent in most science, which is only now beginning to be left behind, and the way it has not only prevented human females from participating fully in scientific inquiry, but has skewed scientific results for ages due to assumptions made about other female animals, as well. This book actually made me think more critically about science in general, thanks to multiple examples of animals dying often horrific deaths while trapped by researchers, and by pointing out that research on animals does not serve any practical purpose, we just do it because learning is fun. Which makes the heartless way we go about it even more disturbing.
While most people might not gain this particular benefit from the book, I also found it a valuable resource for my fantasy novel project. I'm writing about gryphons, so learning about so many interesting and wildly varied bird species--such as kea, Caledonian crows, ravens, bowerbirds, little hermit hummingbirds, lyrebirds, vultures, oilbirds (we need a new name not based on the reason we have killed so many of them), antbirds, fairy-wrens, and many, many more--has given me tons of inspiration for my characters and their world. The book even gave me a scientific placement for my fantasy world in time and space, how epic is that?!
There are plenty more details I could share from my reading notes, but I think this is enough to help anyone decide whether this book is worth their time. It was definitely worth mine, and it will be remaining on my shelf for reference and perhaps even a complete reread in the future!