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A review by rebeccazh
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
5.0
Since getting a pet hamster, I've noticed that my hamster's eyesight is not very good. She probably can't see anything at all unless it is right in front of her. She has an amazing sense of smell and hearing and can often tell if someone has stepped into the opposite end of the room of her cage (a tank cage so the sound should be muffled) and can tell when I've touched something in the cage because she will beeline for the thing and give it a thorough sniff. She seems to navigate the world primarily by sound and smell.
All of this led me to be very curious about the different ways animals navigate the world, which is why I picked up this book. This book answered my questions and then some. The main thesis of the book is simple: stop judging animals by humans' standards. They have senses we can't imagine. They're built to thrive in their environments, and understanding them by human senses and human measures of intelligence and importance misses the point. They reveal something about an aspect of the world we might not even know exists. Some animals are masters at a specific sense, able to do things we can't imagine. And despite knowing the science and biology of it all, we will never truly know what it feels like to have those senses (Umwelt, as the book calls it).
Each chapter in this book focuses on a specific sense, with a focus on various animals who specialize in that sense. The author has a sense of humor but also a strong appreciation and respect for all animals, and it was a very enjoyable read and I learned a lot of interesting factoids. As I was reading this book, I started to wonder what the world would look like if we let animals design the environment. This of course touches on the topic of disability. I always wondered what a world designed by blind people would look like. Accessibility would not be such an issue.
I love the author's message that we should honor different ways of being, and that animals are as important and worthy of empathy, dignity, curiosity, and respect, as humans are.
All of this led me to be very curious about the different ways animals navigate the world, which is why I picked up this book. This book answered my questions and then some. The main thesis of the book is simple: stop judging animals by humans' standards. They have senses we can't imagine. They're built to thrive in their environments, and understanding them by human senses and human measures of intelligence and importance misses the point. They reveal something about an aspect of the world we might not even know exists. Some animals are masters at a specific sense, able to do things we can't imagine. And despite knowing the science and biology of it all, we will never truly know what it feels like to have those senses (Umwelt, as the book calls it).
Each chapter in this book focuses on a specific sense, with a focus on various animals who specialize in that sense. The author has a sense of humor but also a strong appreciation and respect for all animals, and it was a very enjoyable read and I learned a lot of interesting factoids. As I was reading this book, I started to wonder what the world would look like if we let animals design the environment. This of course touches on the topic of disability. I always wondered what a world designed by blind people would look like. Accessibility would not be such an issue.
I love the author's message that we should honor different ways of being, and that animals are as important and worthy of empathy, dignity, curiosity, and respect, as humans are.