Animal Architects: Building and the Evolution of Intelligence - Hardcover

Gould, James L.; Gould, Carol Grant

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465027822 ISBN 13: 9780465027828

Publisher: Basic Books, 2007

Synopsis

From two of the world's most distinguished experts in animal behaviour, this book offers a radical, creative, and accessible new approach to understanding animal minds through the structures they build. Animal behaviour has long been a battleground between the competing claims of nature and nurture, with the possible role of cognition in behaviour as a recent addition to this debate. There is an untapped trove of behavioural data that can tell us a great deal about how the animals draw from these neural strategies: the structures animals build provide a superb window on the workings of the animal mind. "Building Minds" examines animal architecture across a range of species, from those whose blueprints are largely innate (such as spiders and their webs) to those whose challenging structures seem to require intellectual insight, planning, and even aesthetics (such as birds' nests, or beavers' dams). Beginning with instinct and the simple homes of solitary insects, James and Carol Gould move on to conditioning; the "cognitive map" and how it evolved; and the role of planning and insight. Finally, they reflect on what animal building tells us about the nature of human intelligence - showing why humans, unlike many animals, need to build their castles in the air.

About this title

Review:

"(t)he amazing animals feats recorded in this book may have presaged our own emergence as master builders." -- The Daily Mail, April 13th 2007

"(t)he amazing animals feats recorded in this book may have presaged our
own emergence as master builders." -- The Daily Mail, April 13th 2007

"(t)his book is enhanced by elegantly simple line drawings and is packed with seductive descriptions of which animals build what, and why." -- BBC Focus, April 2007

"(t)his book is enhanced by elegantly simple line drawings and is packed
with seductive descriptions of which animals build what, and why." -- BBC Focus Magazine, April 2007

"The story of this amazing and beautifully written little book is one of humans very gradually, and only through gritted teeth, admitting that other animals, down to the apparantly humblest insects, are more intelligent than was ever suspected." -- The Guardian, April 14th 2007

"The story of this amazing and beautifully written little book is one of
humans very gradually, and only through gritted teeth, admitting that other
animals, down to the apparantly humblest insects, are more intelligent than
was ever suspected." -- The Guardian, April 14th 2007

"Two experts in animal behaviour explore the structures animals build, providing a radical new model for understanding animal minds. The complexity of many of these structures, and the evident capacity of their builders for forward thinking, adaptability, improvisation and even aesthetic appreciation, raise potentially troubling questions about the supposed gulf between human and animal intelligence." -- The London Review of Books, May 2007

"a challenging new study...Animal Architects is not so much an exploration of gee-whiz wonders of the things that animals make, but an investigation into the mental processes required to make them". -- The Times, April 2007

"a notable achievment... highly readable... Animal constructions are fascinating, and the authors provide some useful insights into them." -- Nature, April 12th 2007

"a notable achievment... highly readable... Animal constructions are
fascinating, and the authors provide some useful insights into them." -- Nature, April 12th 2007

From the Back Cover:

"Two experts in animal behaviour explore the structures animals build,
providing a radical new model for understanding animal minds. The
complexity of many of these structures, and the evident capacity of their
builders for forward thinking, adaptability, improvisation and even
aesthetic appreciation, raise potentially troubling questions about the
supposed gulf between human and animal intelligence."

The London Review of Books, May 2007

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0465027822
• ISBN 13: 9780465027828
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336