Environment

Power in the Wild: The Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Ways Animals Strive for Control over Others

Power in the Wild: The Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Ways Animals Strive for Control over Others

  • Downloads：5628
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-05-19 03:19:36
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Lee Alan Dugatkin
  • ISBN：0226815943
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Piet ，

A book on power in animals。 For me it was too much a collection of studies with very little synthesis。 This also makes it harder to remember the separate stories。 Although there are definitely some cool studies in this book， it was in the end difficult to get through it because it didn't seem to go anywhere。 In addition， the theoretical underpinnings were relatively scant - some references here and there but no coherent framework around it all。 A book on power in animals。 For me it was too much a collection of studies with very little synthesis。 This also makes it harder to remember the separate stories。 Although there are definitely some cool studies in this book， it was in the end difficult to get through it because it didn't seem to go anywhere。 In addition， the theoretical underpinnings were relatively scant - some references here and there but no coherent framework around it all。 。。。more

Elisa ，

Anyone familiar with Jane Goodall’s work will know how chimpanzees are very political creatures， but I never knew that these kinds of machinations went on all over the animal world。 Fish， birds， dogs， even cockroaches， not only fight but scheme for dominance， and this book is about the politics of power。 The author discusses many experiments， all of them fascinating， as well as whatever results were obtained from them。 He also includes those situations where the information wasn’t clear。 There w Anyone familiar with Jane Goodall’s work will know how chimpanzees are very political creatures， but I never knew that these kinds of machinations went on all over the animal world。 Fish， birds， dogs， even cockroaches， not only fight but scheme for dominance， and this book is about the politics of power。 The author discusses many experiments， all of them fascinating， as well as whatever results were obtained from them。 He also includes those situations where the information wasn’t clear。 There were just two things that I didn’t enjoy as much。 Firstly， that there is more emphasis on the science than the behavioral aspects。 It is very interesting to know the hormonal results of the fight for power， but it went mostly above my head。 The other is that， as an animal lover， it made me sad to hear how the experimenters sometimes caused stress on their subjects， not only by causing fights， but by influencing the results。 There is no explicit cruelty here， and I understand how important it is to conduct this research， it was still hard to read about。 The rest， especially the ways the animals reacted， was fascinating to read， and written in a style that’s easy to follow。 I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased。 Thank you， #NetGalley/#University of Chicago Press！ 。。。more

Alina ，

***Note: I received a copy curtesy of Netgalley and University of Chicago Press in exchange for an honest review。The book is a compendium of research projects， and is divided in chapters related to strategies of gaining power: weighting costs and benefits， assessing rivals， espionage， making alliances， battles， etc。 It also mentions， besides the advantages， the costs of having power。 To sum up: animals fight for power。 With whatever they can。 And more often than not， the bigger one wins。 Foo ***Note: I received a copy curtesy of Netgalley and University of Chicago Press in exchange for an honest review。The book is a compendium of research projects， and is divided in chapters related to strategies of gaining power: weighting costs and benefits， assessing rivals， espionage， making alliances， battles， etc。 It also mentions， besides the advantages， the costs of having power。 To sum up: animals fight for power。 With whatever they can。 And more often than not， the bigger one wins。 Food， shelter， or partner。 And the powerful are more parasitized with ectoparasites and endoparasites， possibly because the lack of time and energy。The most interesting I thought to be hyenas， elephant seals， and monkeys， although many groups are covered: fish， birds， snakes， dolphins， mongooses， wasps， etc。Overall， I have really mixed feelings about this one: the information presented is quite interesting， but the delivery is very disjointed， it jumps chaotically between research projects and animals， and I often couldn't find a conclusion for that particular animal and/or situation。 。。。more

Pia ，

Lee Alan Dugatkin has a very clean， precise and to-the-point writing style that is refreshing in a landscape of science writers， but can sometimes seem a little spare。 That being said， Power in the Wild is absolutely jam-packed with story after story （or research experiment after research experiment） on the way animals gain， lose， retain， acquire， and solicit power in the wild。 I've been been something of an armchair enthusiast for ethology for the last twenty five years， yet I was surprised and Lee Alan Dugatkin has a very clean， precise and to-the-point writing style that is refreshing in a landscape of science writers， but can sometimes seem a little spare。 That being said， Power in the Wild is absolutely jam-packed with story after story （or research experiment after research experiment） on the way animals gain， lose， retain， acquire， and solicit power in the wild。 I've been been something of an armchair enthusiast for ethology for the last twenty five years， yet I was surprised and pleased at how many animal examples I wasn't familiar with。 There were projects I was familiar with， of course， but even these were handled with interesting deftness， imparting information swiftly。 I really enjoyed that every chapter - which addresses different ways animals can relate to power （i。e。 forming coalitions， interfering， assessment of rivals， alliances， observation etc。） - has multiple examples， across many different species， all around the world。 And I very much enjoyed the attention to detail regarding the *cost* of such strategies。 In some cases， for example， learning that dominant animals actually have higher cortisol and mortality rates of their offspring， suggesting that being the dominant animal doesn't always pay （though it often does）。 Dugatkin has a habit of sharing more about the methodology of an experiment than the actual place or setting where an experiment takes place。 This had the side effect of leaving me feeling ungrounded in place and time。 In the Afterword， Dugatkin mentions wanting the reader to feel as though they may have been there studying dolphins or similar with the scientists， but there's a lack of orienting sensory details throughout， so almost every experiment feels like it could have happened anywhere， at any time， with very little sense of place。 I've encountered science writers that will describe the temperature of a place， the smell of the trees， the feel， the privations scientists had to go through （the many stinging animals in rainforests） and all of this was absent。 There were times some of the examples felt repetitive。 Of course that's to be expected in a book that is solidly using multiple examples to reify variations on a single point。 It also highlights just how knowledgeable this book is。 It feels like it would be invaluable to students in particular， and also to those with an interest in animal behaviour。 There's no spare padding here， just knowledgeable example after example。 It's a very economical writing style， but the examples themselves are all so interesting and compelling that it works。I personally found the chapter on audience effects （i。e。 how the bystanders to an encounter between animals affects how the animals behave） really fascinating。 I don't believe I've seen a great deal on this subject before， and to get multiple examples at once， especially among ravens （who I admit I'm pretty biased towards） felt rewarding。 This book is extremely educational， and yet not so dense that laypeople can't understand and enjoy it。 It's a lot more fun read over time， instead of all at once， giving yourself time to think about every example， or perhaps taking breaks to reflect after each chapter。 This bypasses the repetitive feel （at least， it did for me）， and instead leaves you appreciative for all the ways animals operate in nature， how much we've learned so far， and how much we still don't understand。 I think it would be a handy reference for animal behaviour scientists （as well as any scientist who deals with living beings and concepts of power - including psychologists and anthropologists etc。）， since it collates the results of so many papers。 I also think it's a great book for anyone interested in animal behaviour， you might be surprised how many of the examples you haven't previously come across before。I also found this book personally refreshing， after reading a lot of nonfiction books that don't quite anthropomorphise animals， but perhaps soften the fact that all animals are seeking power， and that all their behaviours inform the seeking of it。 Despite the subject， this book doesn't seem cold， if anything it highlights how adaptive， clever， determined and driven animals are - across all the families， all over the world - to persevere in the retaining of their power， and in the attaining of it。 I really enjoyed it。 。。。more