An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 4,706 ratings

Price: 19.69

Last update: 01-11-2025


Top reviews from the United States

Jason
5.0 out of 5 stars It will forever change the way you view animals. A must read.
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
In "An Immense World," Thomas Goetz takes readers on a captivating journey into the sensory realms of the animal kingdom, offering a fascinating exploration of how different creatures perceive and interact with their environments. This book serves as a compelling testament to the intricate and diverse ways in which animals experience the world, revealing hidden dimensions that often elude our human senses.

Goetz skillfully navigates through the intricacies of animal perception, weaving together scientific research and vivid storytelling to create an engaging narrative. The book delves into the sensory abilities of various species, shedding light on their unique adaptations and the evolutionary advantages conferred by these abilities. From the echolocation of bats to the magnetic sense of migratory birds, Goetz unveils a world rich with sensory wonders that challenge our understanding of the natural world.

One of the book's strengths lies in Goetz's ability to convey complex scientific concepts in an accessible manner, making it suitable for both casual readers and those with a more profound interest in biology and animal behavior. The author's enthusiasm for the subject matter is contagious, and readers will find themselves marveling at the ingenuity of nature as they learn about the incredible ways in which animals navigate and perceive their surroundings.

"An Immense World" not only educates readers about the intricacies of animal senses but also prompts reflection on our own perceptions of reality. Goetz encourages us to appreciate the vast spectrum of sensory experiences that exist beyond the human realm, fostering a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all living beings.

Overall, Thomas Goetz's "An Immense World" is a compelling and enlightening exploration of the hidden dimensions of the animal world. Through its engaging prose and insightful revelations, the book invites readers to reconsider their perspectives on the natural world, ultimately deepening their appreciation for the rich tapestry of life that surrounds us.
Michael S. Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Book
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2024
Well-written and full of fascinating information about the world around us.
RJN
5.0 out of 5 stars An Awesome Journey into the Worlds of other animals and plants.
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024
The author covers all the usual senses and some at least for most of us not thought about or known. There are so many wondrous things to learn here. White and blue light is incredible hard on insects and birds. Hammerhead sharks use their wide head protrusion to search for electrical clues buried and hiding under sediment so that they can eat them. Birds vision is much faster than ours, and a flies vision is about four times as fast. Dolphins echolocation sense can see inside our bodies like a medical tool ... and hundreds of other things. Anyone who enjoying learning about the worlds of other creatures would probably love this book. Anyone who cares about ecology also.
Jason Adams
4.0 out of 5 stars Discerning a certain point of view
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2023
Ed Yong has done a tremendous job of opening up an entirely new way to understand cognition from the perspective of nonhuman species. Written in a fun conversational tone, this book does a great job of bringing its readership on a unique journey.
Bill Harford
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous tour of animal senses
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2024
As the author points out, animals live in a different world, revealed to them by senses that we can't imagine. If you are susceptible to wonder and awe, you will love this book.
algo41
5.0 out of 5 stars so much interesting material
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2022
There is so much interesting material about animal senses that Yong need not spend much time on his travels and on the scientists involved. He writes well, emphasizing the basis for the evolution of each sense, physiological, and especially functional. He always points out the unsolved questions. For example, the leading theory of how the earth’s magnetic field is sensed involves a quantum interaction between pairs of molecules, a reaction which requires some light and is impacted by the magnetic field. The candidate molecule pair, in at least some animal’s eyes, has been identified, but not the actual sensory organ. Besides evolution, another emphasis is all the sensory input around us that we humans are not equipped to recognize, although there are electronic tools to remedy much of that. I advise the new reader to pay attention to the notes which follow each chapter – many of them are very interesting.

Each sense has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, smell works around corners and in the dark, and remains after the cause has moved, but it is slow to reach the sensory organ. Vision can have high resolution, or high sensitivity (requiring little light), but there is a tradeoff between the two. Most animals that can see color can see UV; it is not known why humans cannot, just conjectures. I have previously read that human color vision is in part tuned to aid in distinguishing subtle differences in human facial expression. Incidentally, there are some women with four color cones, not three, which aids them in distinguishing subtle differences in green; this capacity can be tested for, but the subject otherwise does not realize they have a special talent. A sentence I liked: “The human visual world is in front and humans move into it…… But the avian world is around and birds move through it (i.e. they can see more than 180 degrees, even 360 degrees around their head).”

While reactions to taste are mostly innate, reactions to smell are learned. Elephants can apparently smell better than dogs. We all know about primary colors, but what this means is that there is no specific light frequency for the color purple, it is developed by our ability to add and subtract the primary color frequencies. While we have many neurons which register different odors, our subjective consciousness of many odors is also based on combining the reactions of multiple “primary” neurons.

The amount of brain power required to utilize senses, such as echolocation in a bat or dolphin, is very high. One conjecture about Neanderthals which I have read elsewhere is that more of their brainpower was devoted to vision.
MartyM
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for anyone with curiosity about animals
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2024
Really makes you think about the world and nature. Pushes you beyond purely human concerns, which makes you think about how irresponsible we are as a species.
Sarah P.
5.0 out of 5 stars gorgeous book
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2024
Gorgeous cover, excellent content, by a great writer. Well worth it!

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