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A review by justabean_reads
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
4.5
Several friends listed this as one of their favourite reads of 2023, and I can see why! Yong investigates all the different ways animals perceive the world, what that might feel like, the limits and advantages of different ways of sensing, and the difficulty of studying any of that. As has been mentioned elsewhere, this would be a great resource for science fiction or fantasy worldbuilding for non-humans or metahumans, especially with the attention to how different senses aren't just say vision plus, but often a completely different brain wiring. The concepts can be mind-bending on their own, and Yong does a great job trying to make it relatable and alien at the same time. He also, as far as I could tell, avoids using ableist language, and points out ableism in how people talk about senses.
The most fun parts are the adventures of scientists and their subjects as they try to figure out why bats keep running into things, hummingbirds sing songs they themselves can't hear, and dolphins keep being assholes. There are references to bad things happening to research subjects, especially in a historical context, but for the most part the focus stays with people trying to solve problems and running into unexpected brick walls and breakthroughs alike.
The most fun parts are the adventures of scientists and their subjects as they try to figure out why bats keep running into things, hummingbirds sing songs they themselves can't hear, and dolphins keep being assholes. There are references to bad things happening to research subjects, especially in a historical context, but for the most part the focus stays with people trying to solve problems and running into unexpected brick walls and breakthroughs alike.