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1outside 's review for:
Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds
by Bernd Heinrich
I read the book on a whim. I like corvids but where I live we actually have no ravens, just a smart magpie couple (and ATM their two inquisitive kids), so I don't actually have any personal experience with ravens from closer than a few meters when I sometimes manage to spot them on trips.
I knew little, and therefore learned a lot. But it seems to me that in the nearly 2 decades since the book first came out the scientists' general attitude towards animal intelligence and consciousness has shifted somewhat. Seems to me the concept is much more widely accepted these days.
Even though the book was certainly extremely interesting, I can't go higher than 4/5 for it, as I had a small problem with Heinrich's writing style: some parts read too much like lifted from a dissertation or a science mag, which can sometimes clash with the more poetic and anecdote-y rest of it. That makes it a bit of an uneven, slightly challenging read. But still, hands down, definitely worth the read if you're interested in the topic!
I knew little, and therefore learned a lot. But it seems to me that in the nearly 2 decades since the book first came out the scientists' general attitude towards animal intelligence and consciousness has shifted somewhat. Seems to me the concept is much more widely accepted these days.
Even though the book was certainly extremely interesting, I can't go higher than 4/5 for it, as I had a small problem with Heinrich's writing style: some parts read too much like lifted from a dissertation or a science mag, which can sometimes clash with the more poetic and anecdote-y rest of it. That makes it a bit of an uneven, slightly challenging read. But still, hands down, definitely worth the read if you're interested in the topic!