Review by Choice Review
Deceit, depression, and self-awareness are behaviors that most biologists had long thought separated us from the other species that inhabit this earth. Gould and Gould indicate that this may not be true. An earlier scientist to explore this topic was Donald R. Griffin: The Question of Animal Awareness (CH, Jun'77; rev. and enl. ed., CH, Dec'81); Animal Thinking (CH, Sep'84); and most recently, Animal Minds (CH, Mar'93). The Goulds focus on the same topic, but at a more general level. Part of a series published by Scientific American, this volume brings to book form the same values associated with the magazine: clear, precise text, outstanding diagrams, a compact bibliography, and well-known authors. The authors begin their treatment by looking at behavior in a mechanical sense: how animals perceive their environment and how they respond to stimuli by exhibiting programmed behaviors. They then demonstrate how organisms operate as more than mere robots. Separate chapters examine aspects such as animal constructions (hives, mounds, and dams); eating and being eaten; knowledge of self and kin; and intra-and interspecific communication. The last chapter describes human mental capabilities. As demonstrated, although we as a species feel that most of our behavior is "learned," in reality (as shown by fraternal twin studies) we are strongly genetically programmed, a feature that indicates our commonality with the rest of creation and not our distinctness. An excellent book; the illustrations, photos and diagrams are not only very helpful, but convey the authors' message. General; undergraduate. L. T. Spencer; Plymouth State College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
