An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
- Downloads：6950
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-05-23 03:19:43
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Ed Yong
- ISBN：B09JBJS1MF
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Kathleen
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This book opens new worlds。
Shawn
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This book was terrific！It is about senses and how sidebars species perceive the world。 The author uses engaging stories and vivid descriptions that truly make you feel that you can almost imagine how these animals perceive the world。 There are fun facts， humor， and great research。 If you are a fan of science， of Mary Roach's books， and of annoying your spouse every time you read the next cool fact。。。 you will love this book。 Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity This book was terrific！It is about senses and how sidebars species perceive the world。 The author uses engaging stories and vivid descriptions that truly make you feel that you can almost imagine how these animals perceive the world。 There are fun facts， humor， and great research。 If you are a fan of science， of Mary Roach's books， and of annoying your spouse every time you read the next cool fact。。。 you will love this book。 Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book。 #animmenseworld #netgalley 。。。more
Laura Jones
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This is a book all about the senses。 It looks at those we are familiar with every day such as sight， smell， taste， touch and sound， but also discusses other senses like electrical and magnetic fields and vibrations。 But crucially， this look looks at the senses via the experiences of other organisms: animals， birds and insects。 We learn how these different senses work in different creatures and how their experiences of the world vary from our human one。 The science is explained in a very straight This is a book all about the senses。 It looks at those we are familiar with every day such as sight， smell， taste， touch and sound， but also discusses other senses like electrical and magnetic fields and vibrations。 But crucially， this look looks at the senses via the experiences of other organisms: animals， birds and insects。 We learn how these different senses work in different creatures and how their experiences of the world vary from our human one。 The science is explained in a very straightforward， easy to understand manner and it never becomes too technical。 Each chapter is jam packed with new facts and information and because of this， it is not a book to be read in one sitting。 Read it in small chunks so you can really appreciate just how much there is to learn from this book。 There are many different examples from all across the animal world to illustrate how each sense is experienced in wildly varied ways and it is a book that will constantly keep you entertained and wanting to learn more。My only gripe is the overuse of footnotes。 They are present on nearly every page and often go over onto the next page， making the reading experience feel clunky as I was constantly reading back over what I’d just read to find the context for the footnote。 A few footnotes is fine， but many of those in this book are substantial enough that they could have been made part of the main text。 For this reason， I have knocked a star off my review because， although the content of the book is excellent， I also want an enjoyable reading experience which I did not have because of the copious footnotes。With thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for providing an advance review copy。 All opinions in this review are my own。 。。。more
Ula Tardigrade
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What a delight！I am a longtime fan of Ed Yong。 He is one of my favorite popular science authors。 I loved his first book， I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life， but for years I was also following his writing in The Atlantic。 His painstaking COVID coverage was brilliant and eye-opening。 I remember how frank he was about the cost of spending almost two years immersed in such a harrowing topic， and how he announced that he will take a few months off to finish his bo What a delight！I am a longtime fan of Ed Yong。 He is one of my favorite popular science authors。 I loved his first book， I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life， but for years I was also following his writing in The Atlantic。 His painstaking COVID coverage was brilliant and eye-opening。 I remember how frank he was about the cost of spending almost two years immersed in such a harrowing topic， and how he announced that he will take a few months off to finish his book， on which he worked when the pandemic struck。 And here it is， a perfect break from grim tales of the many dark months。The subject of animal senses is as fascinating as bacteria， on which he focused in his first book （though I think Yong could make any topic interesting）。 He takes readers on a breathtaking tour， sharing his discoveries and his amazement with the natural world。 He has an unrivaled ability to explain complicated scientific facts in a comprehensive and engaging manner。 And his writing is so warm and funny - I always appreciate a good pun and he doesn’t miss any opportunity to make one。 You will find here answers to many questions you may have been asking yourself， such as “how does a dog's sense of smell works” or “are other animals see the same colors as we”。 But Yong also answers questions that you would never think to ask， and these are the best parts。 One of my favorite new， mind-boggling facts that I have learned from this book is that animals see at different speeds - so according to a turtle we humans are buzzing around like busy bees， and to a bee - we are sluggish as turtles。Many thanks to the publisher， Random House， and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book。 。。。more
Layne Williams
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Initial Thots:Ed Yong popped the fuck off yall！ First of all， my man Ed Yong is FUNNY。 I'm not a science gal by any means and often find that writing dense with foreign technical terms and scientisty gobbledygook feels intimidating， unaccessible and unengaging。 Mr。 Yong， however， is a sneaky one！ Instead of gatekeeping science with disorienting science speak， Yong conveys complex concepts in a witty and easily digestible manner。 While the "conscious experiences of other animals are inherently ha Initial Thots:Ed Yong popped the fuck off yall！ First of all， my man Ed Yong is FUNNY。 I'm not a science gal by any means and often find that writing dense with foreign technical terms and scientisty gobbledygook feels intimidating， unaccessible and unengaging。 Mr。 Yong， however， is a sneaky one！ Instead of gatekeeping science with disorienting science speak， Yong conveys complex concepts in a witty and easily digestible manner。 While the "conscious experiences of other animals are inherently hard to imagine" thanks to our limited human toolbox， Yong skillfully guides us into the immense world （hehe get it？） of animal senses by getting us to think beyond our own experiences with the world。 What we sense and perceive is only a tiny piece of the picture and there's so much going on around us we just aren't aware of。 We all know dogs are great smellers， but boy did the chapter on smell amaze me with just HOW great dogs are at smelling things。 I'm talking top tier sniffing technology。 Learning a bit about how my treasured yorkie， whose umwelt is highly influenced by smells， senses his environment has even inspired me to copy one of the scientists Yong meets with and pledge to take my dog on weekly smell walks。 my pup thanks you ed。 My important takeaways: magnetoreception exists， humans can echolocate， there's some lady who can see more colors than the rest of us but is super chill about it， scientists know a lot but also don't know a lot 。。。more
Nigel
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Briefly - Simply fascinating - our senses are rather impoverished！ In fullWOW - Ed Yong， author and science journalist， takes us on a tour of senses and how the animal kingdom widely has developed and used senses。 The introductory chapter got my attention very well。 The idea of a room with many occupants of different species each with different primary senses。 The range of what would be perceived by very varied species is remarkable and thought provoking。 The author opens with some thoughts on t Briefly - Simply fascinating - our senses are rather impoverished！ In fullWOW - Ed Yong， author and science journalist， takes us on a tour of senses and how the animal kingdom widely has developed and used senses。 The introductory chapter got my attention very well。 The idea of a room with many occupants of different species each with different primary senses。 The range of what would be perceived by very varied species is remarkable and thought provoking。 The author opens with some thoughts on the approach of this book。 The idea is to avoid comparisons and "ranking"。 This does make sense for many reasons really。 There are very widely differing habitats and difficulties in designing experiments when we don't have much of an understanding of the senses we are trying to test。Throw in the difficulties of trying to decide just what senses there actually are and how to define and you get some feeling for the complexities being tackled in this book。 I did like the quote from Proust - ""not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes"。 It felt appropriate。I found the journey I was taken on was fascinating - almost to an overwhelming degree。 When I'm reading a book to review I generally read just that book continuously。 This one I took breaks from。 In part there was just so much to process here （it wasn't a subject I knew much about）。 This is not a criticism of the book however。 It is written in a very accessible way for something quite so complex。While I mentioned that the book started with the idea that it was not going to make comparisons and ranking of senses I do think it "failed" on the comparisons aspect。 However it would be virtually impossible to write this book about senses within a species without referring to the senses that are predominant in another species。 I didn't find that this bothered me。It's hard to come up with one or two favourite topics in this book - there were just so many for me。 The sheer sensitivity of some animal senses just blew me away。 That owls have asymmetric ears that are accurate to 2 degrees。 That otters and seals can track the "wake" left by fishes from 200 yards away。 That birds hear bird song very differently from us and that the song varies in ways we simply cannot hear。 That turtles have inbuilt location senses that are remarkable。 There is simply so much in here to be fascinated by。I found the last chapter is quite brief but very interesting。 It did feel slightly out of sync with the rest of the book。 It concerns the way we disrupt animal senses in some quite dramatic fashions。 For me it was a subject that could have had more space devoted to it - maybe another book！This really is not a book to rush。 It deserves time to be taken over it and will reward the interested reader amply。 For me the fact that in most cases our senses are relatively poor was an overarching aspect of this。 Related to that is the fact that， certainly in the past， we have attempted to judge animals senses by what we think they might be like。 This is simply so far from the mark in so many cases as to emphasize how little we know and understand about this world we inhabit and abuse。 This is a fascinating insight into the diversity of animal senses - I'd happily recommend it to anyone with any interest in the subject。Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair reviewhttps://viewson。org。uk/non-fiction/an。。。 。。。more
Sam
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Ever wondered how a bat views the world？ Or the 3rd arm of an octopus？ How about your pet dog - it can't be that different to us， can it？This book looks at the world of senses: how they vary between animals and how those differences influence their perception of the world they inhabit。 You are going to read the word "umwelt" an awful lot！The senses include ones you would expect: smell， hearing， sight and how they vary; but also things like echolocation， electric and magnetic fields， heat， vibrat Ever wondered how a bat views the world？ Or the 3rd arm of an octopus？ How about your pet dog - it can't be that different to us， can it？This book looks at the world of senses: how they vary between animals and how those differences influence their perception of the world they inhabit。 You are going to read the word "umwelt" an awful lot！The senses include ones you would expect: smell， hearing， sight and how they vary; but also things like echolocation， electric and magnetic fields， heat， vibrations etc。 Chapters break down these senses - how they work （or we think they do）， how we， as humans， are able to interpret them and what they are used for。There's a strong focus on trying to remove the human-focused experience of a sense so that we can attempt to appreciate how animals really experience the world - and how that is important when we consider our impact on the environment。Ed Yong writes with a lightness and humour - explaining what can be pretty complex， and often quite new， science in a way that is understandable whilst avoiding the feeling of being dumbed down。If you have even a vague interest in animal science or the natural world then I can't recommend this enough。Thanks to Vintage Books for providing a netgalley review copy。 。。。more
Barbara Crossler
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Really enjoyed the way the information was presented。 Fascinating to consider the inter - connectivity of the different animal， fish， and insect species with each other and with us humans！
Roy Kenagy
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DMPL。 ON ORDER。 HOLD PLACED 3/6/2022
Chantal Lyons
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Ed Yong has produced an immense book that delves into the mind-blowing world of senses across the animal kingdom - prepare to say "wow" out loud a lot as you read it。'An Immense World' is not a book you can read in a few sittings。 Yong actually expects quite a lot of his readers， which isn't a bad thing。 Every page is full of fascinating information。 By coincidence， shortly before starting Yong's book， I started listening to 'Sentient' by Jackie Higgins which， perhaps unfortunately， is extremely Ed Yong has produced an immense book that delves into the mind-blowing world of senses across the animal kingdom - prepare to say "wow" out loud a lot as you read it。'An Immense World' is not a book you can read in a few sittings。 Yong actually expects quite a lot of his readers， which isn't a bad thing。 Every page is full of fascinating information。 By coincidence， shortly before starting Yong's book， I started listening to 'Sentient' by Jackie Higgins which， perhaps unfortunately， is extremely similar in theme to this book （they even cover a lot of the same scientists）。 However， I prefer Yong's book， because in true journalistic fashion the author physically meets with many of the scientists whose work he covers， and gets to meet quite a few of the animals too。 Which led to quite a few fun moments - a nice injection of brevity and illumination。 Another element that makes 'An Immense World' superior， in my view， is the analysis he frequently presents along the lines of "we never used to imagine this。。。 what else are we missing about this animal？"。 There's a sense of deep wonder and mystery。 For all my praise， I cannot give this book 5 stars。 The reason？ THE FOOTNOTES。 OH MY GOD。 Most pages had at least one footnote， sometimes three or even four。 On some pages， the footnotes took up at least half the page。 I hate the idea of missing out on any information， so I read them all， but it really broke up the narrative for me。 Neither did it help that on my e-reader， a lot of the footnotes went over onto the next page。 Even more galling is that a lot of them could have easily been folded into the narrative。 What I suspect has happened is that Yong went over his word limit， so he simply moved some content to the footnotes。 The result is that it sadly diminished my reading experience。（With thanks to Random House and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review） 。。。more
Nicola Michelle
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