The Creative Lives of Animals
- Downloads：9477
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-11-21 03:19:35
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Carol Gigliotti
- ISBN：1479815446
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Reviews
Elisa
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This is an original take on animal behavior。 The author examines the work of established Ethologists and asks how their findings apply to creativity。 Along with language， this has been seen as exclusively human but， as Gigliotti explains， there are many examples of creativity in animals。 There is music and architecture created by mammals and birds， but also insects and fish。 Much of the content was familiar to me， since I read everything I can find on animal behavior， but its innovative approach This is an original take on animal behavior。 The author examines the work of established Ethologists and asks how their findings apply to creativity。 Along with language， this has been seen as exclusively human but， as Gigliotti explains， there are many examples of creativity in animals。 There is music and architecture created by mammals and birds， but also insects and fish。 Much of the content was familiar to me， since I read everything I can find on animal behavior， but its innovative approach makes it stand out。 I enjoyed the anecdotes and specific examples and only wish that there were illustrations。 Thankfully， the internet allowed me to look these up （the nests of Corolla spiders or the mating dance of the bird of paradise are magnificent）。 The more scientific parts were a little dry and hard to understand for me。 Animal lovers will enjoy this read。 I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased。 Thank you， #NetGalley/#NYU Press！ 。。。more
Sofija
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Wonderful book。 I enjoyed this immensely。 Gigliotti took her time to do proper research on animal intelligence， empathy， learning skills， and creativity。 While the book is about animal creativity， we do get a lot of information and examples of animals thinking abstractly， memorizing information， and using that information for future situations。 Gigliotti writes about a lot of different animals， and how they express their intelligence and creativity。 The second chapter focuses on animal communica Wonderful book。 I enjoyed this immensely。 Gigliotti took her time to do proper research on animal intelligence， empathy， learning skills， and creativity。 While the book is about animal creativity， we do get a lot of information and examples of animals thinking abstractly， memorizing information， and using that information for future situations。 Gigliotti writes about a lot of different animals， and how they express their intelligence and creativity。 The second chapter focuses on animal communication， and that is my favorite chapter。 Gigliotti gives an example of the complex language of prairie dogs， and how they might have their version of grammar。 She highlights the importance of understanding communication in context， rather than forcing animals to learn our language。 She tries to tell us the important lesson of stepping out of our human-shaped thinking。 Everything we know， and are in the process of getting to know， about animals mirrors our knowledge of ourselves。 While that does give great directions on what to look for， it also puts boundaries on how much we can learn about the lives of animals。I am impressed by this book and the amount of hard work and research Gigliotti put into this。 It was about time someone wrote a book on this topic。 I recommend this to all the biologists out there， and others who are interested in expanding their horizons。（Thank you to Edelweiss for the review copy。） 。。。more
Maudaevee
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This was an interesting and different way to look at animals and their lives。 I enjoyed seeing them in this new way。 I found the studies easy to follow and it was an enjoyable read all round。
andrea v。 （andrea’s galley）
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“We do not give meaning to the lives of animals; they are able and willing to do that themselves。 They plan their future， build their homes， fabricate bowers for their beloveds， defend themselves from predators they fear， （…）。 Their lives have meaning for them。 To their detriment and ours， we have until recently dismissed and neglected the critical importance of that knowledge。”Genre: Science， NonfictionActual Rating: 4 starsSpicy Meter: N/AContent Warning: N/AThe number of science books I read “We do not give meaning to the lives of animals; they are able and willing to do that themselves。 They plan their future， build their homes， fabricate bowers for their beloveds， defend themselves from predators they fear， （…）。 Their lives have meaning for them。 To their detriment and ours， we have until recently dismissed and neglected the critical importance of that knowledge。”Genre: Science， NonfictionActual Rating: 4 starsSpicy Meter: N/AContent Warning: N/AThe number of science books I read in comparison to the number of fiction books I read is basically negligible。 I think that’s because I already work in a science-focused area， and it’s easier to escape the pressures of being a marine zoologist by reading about made up worlds where people live extraordinarily different lives from what I’ve experienced in mine。 But a science book here and there usually doesn’t disappoint。Just by reading the premise and the introduction to this book， I was instantly reminded of Frans de Waals’s “Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are？”， which is one of my all-time favorite animal behaviour books。 So it was no surprise to see Carol Gigliotti quoting this same book later on， on her first chapter。Written under different prompts， this book will give you a glimpse， both through theory and case studies， into why animals do the things they do。 Discussing topics like animal intelligence， communication， building， amongst other things that make animals different， yes， but not necessarily superior， to humans。This is a well-researched， but heavy read。 I would only recommend this book to readers interested in biology， ecology， and animal behaviour。 If these aren’t amongst your interests， you might find this book a bit boring。 In my case， it served as a reminder of why I love my field of study and why I do what I do and study what I study。ARC provided by NetGalley and NYU Press in exchange for an honest review。Publication Date: November 22， 2022 。。。more
Paul
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