Will You Read: Animal Wise by Virginia Morell?

February 20, 2013 by Jon.Peters

Will You Read: Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures by Virginia Morell; Crown, February 26, 2013; 352 pages

Genre: Animal Psychology

Synopsis: Morell, a long-time science writer, takes us into the minds and hearts of “lower” animals, showing us that even the humble rat feels and laughs in the same way we do. New technology and better studies are making this knowledge more accessible and accurate. It turns out that parrots, ants, rats and other overlooked species have a lot to say, to each other, and about ourselves.

Also by this Author: Blue Nile: Ethiopia’s River of Magic and Mystery, Ancestral Passions: The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind’s Beginnings.

Books Like This: Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds by Bernd Heinrich, Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals by Marc Bekoff, The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals by Jeffrey Masson

What the Critics Say: Readers anticipating the traditional high-IQ dog/monkey/elephant examples will receive a jolt in the first chapter, which reveals that ants are no slouches in the brain department. –Kirkus Reviews

My Gut Reaction: I am probably biased here, because I like any psychology book. I especially like animal psychology, such as the kind that challenges the popular notion that animals don’t “do” emotion. If we share a majority of our genetic code with most animals (and 98% of this code with chimps) how different are we? This will be a welcome read.