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A review by sjgrodsky
The Inner World of Farm Animals: Their Amazing Intellectual, Emotional and Social Capacities by Amy Hatkoff
4.0
Exquisite visually. Each page is beautifully designed, with photographs that range from charming to adorable. Each chapter ends with a double spread photo. Quotations from researchers and philosophers are sprinkled throughout the book. The tiny icons next to the page numbers are silhouettes (cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens) that indicate graphically the content of the chapter. And the silhouettes are flipped so (for example) the cows on odd numbered pages gaze across the book at the cows on even numbered pages. Very well done.
The text is more problematic.
1
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Overbrief descriptions. The author has summarized findings from many different researchers, most in the animal sciences. However, her summaries are so brief as to be almost meaningless. At times they raise so many questions about the details of the research that one is tempted to ignore the findings. For example, she describes a study conducted in London (no further details given) in which pigs were asked to "push one lever when they felt normal, another when they felt anxious." Umm. OK. Now how did the nameless researchers know when the pigs were pressing the correct lever?
2
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No footnotes. Footnotes linking to the researchers' technical papers would have put the book on much firmer ground scientifically.
3
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Clumsy writing. One example, pulled at random: "Pigs are extremely sensitive to what goes on around them as well as to their environment." Umm...did we need the words following "as"? Don't think so.
4
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Editing errors. On page 82, for example, "...when spoken to or handled gently, cows produce significantly more milk than when treated gruffly." Gruffly? I think she meant roughly.
These are the sorts of things a professional copy editor is going to notice and complain about. But my carping should not detract from the more important point: This book shows the intelligence and emotional depth of the animals who live short and brutal lives on the horrific factory farms that are most of agriculture today. If the book makes just one person rethink a meat-heavy diet, it has done its job.
The text is more problematic.
1
--
Overbrief descriptions. The author has summarized findings from many different researchers, most in the animal sciences. However, her summaries are so brief as to be almost meaningless. At times they raise so many questions about the details of the research that one is tempted to ignore the findings. For example, she describes a study conducted in London (no further details given) in which pigs were asked to "push one lever when they felt normal, another when they felt anxious." Umm. OK. Now how did the nameless researchers know when the pigs were pressing the correct lever?
2
--
No footnotes. Footnotes linking to the researchers' technical papers would have put the book on much firmer ground scientifically.
3
--
Clumsy writing. One example, pulled at random: "Pigs are extremely sensitive to what goes on around them as well as to their environment." Umm...did we need the words following "as"? Don't think so.
4
--
Editing errors. On page 82, for example, "...when spoken to or handled gently, cows produce significantly more milk than when treated gruffly." Gruffly? I think she meant roughly.
These are the sorts of things a professional copy editor is going to notice and complain about. But my carping should not detract from the more important point: This book shows the intelligence and emotional depth of the animals who live short and brutal lives on the horrific factory farms that are most of agriculture today. If the book makes just one person rethink a meat-heavy diet, it has done its job.