Carl Safina

In a world where we usually measure animals by human standards, prize-winning author and MacArthur Fellow Carl Safina takes us inside their lives and minds, witnessing their profound capacity for perception, thought and emotion, showing why the word "it" is often inappropriate as we discover who they really are. Weaving decades of observations of actual families of free-living creatures with new discoveries about brain functioning, Carl Safina's narrative breaches many commonly held boundaries between humans and other animals. InBeyond Words, readers travel the wilds of Africa to visit some of the last great elephant gatherings, then follow wolves of Yellowstone National Park sort out the aftermath of their personal tragedy, then plunge into the astonishingly peaceful society of killer whales living in waters of the Pacific Northwest. We spend quality time, too, with dogs and falcons and ravens; and consider how the human mind originated. In his wise and passionate new book, Safina delivers a graceful examination of how animals truly think and feel, which calls to question what really does—and what should—make us human.

What Animals Think and Feel

Beyond Words

Melody Izard

I've been recommending this to all my animal loving friends; especially to the dog lovers. It's all about communication and intelligence in animals. The main groups are: elephants, wolves, whales and dolphins and apes. But the author mentions cats, insects, fish and birds. Just about any animal. His point being that it is pretty ridiculous for humans to think that animals don't feel emotion and don't learn and think and communicate. But the underlying message is the hard thing. Many of these animals are surely not going to be around long. Even if humans suddenly decided that it was not their god-given right to willy-nilly kill or starve or at the very least not give a damn about anything that does not make a profit. Some of these beautiful animals have just been too hard hit and the future looks harsh.

I've had reports of tears.

Katie

I have some really mixed feelings about this book. I loved a lot of the stories, and feel like I've learned a lot; my views of animal consciousness were much narrower before I started reading. The tone of the book is rather casual, and that worked well for me. But it was so dense, so information rich, that I found I could only digest a little of it at a time, which made for a slow read. The stories in each chapter also varied so greatly. Some were very eye-opening, and others, I just couldn't get into. It was a little repetitive as well at times. I feel as if 1/3rd of the book could've been cut and it still would have conveyed much of the same meaning. I would recommend the book for animal lovers, particularly if you are interested in elephants, wolves, dolphins, and/or killer whales, as those are what Beyond Words primarily focuses on (to a lesser extent, primates, parrots, insects, and dogs as well). I read this as a buddy read with my sister and believe the topics presented in the book will lead to an interesting discussion.

Udit Desai

I wanted to know what they were experiencing, and why to us they feel so compelling, and so-close. This time I allowed myself to ask them the question that for a scientist was forbidden fruit: Who are you? Weaving decades of field observations with exciting new discoveries about the brain, Carl Safina's landmark book offers an intimate view of animal behavior to challenge the fixed boundary between humans and nonhuman animals. In Beyond Words, readers travel to Amboseli National Park in the threatened landscape of Kenya and witness struggling elephant families work out how to survive poaching and drought, then to Yellowstone National Park to observe wolves sort out the aftermath of one pack's personal tragedy, and finally plunge into the astonishingly peaceful society of killer whales living in the crystalline waters of the Pacific Northwest. Beyond Words brings forth powerful and illuminating insight into the unique personalities of animals through extraordinary stories of animal joy, grief, jealousy, anger, and love. The similarity between human and nonhuman consciousness, self-awareness, and empathy calls us to re-evaluate how we interact with animals. Wise, passionate, and eye-opening at every turn, Beyond Words is ultimately a graceful examination of humanity's place in the world.

Beyond Words What Animals Think and Feel

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