The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy - and Why They Matter |  | Author: Ph.D. Marc Bekoff
Creator: Jane Goodall
Publisher: New World Library
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 28124
Media: Paperback
Edition: First Trade Paper Edition
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 1577316290
Dewey Decimal Number: 591.5
EAN: 9781577316299
ASIN: 1577316290
Publication Date: May 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
If the onus on Emotional Lives of Animals author Marc Bekoff was simply to prove that nonhuman creatures exhibit Charles Darwin's six universal emotions (anger, happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, and surprise), then his book would be very brief. As anyone who has ever had a pet dog, cat, rabbit, or even bird can attest, animals not only possess such emotions but broadcast them clearly and often. Bekoff's goal, however, is much grander: To show that wild and domestic species have a kaleidoscopic range of feelings, from embarrassment to awe, and that we dismiss them not only at their peril but our own. And if an endorsement squib by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk and Foreword by renowned animal scientist Jane Goodall doesn't give it away, then readers quickly learn that Bekoff also has an agenda: showing that using animals for scientific experiments, amusement, food, and the like is reprehensible and unconscionable. Not that The Emotional Lives of Animals is a polemic. By turns funny, anecdotal, and deeply researched, the book is all the more persuasive because it's so compelling. As Bekoff (professor emeritus of biology at the University of Colorado) points out, "It's bad biology to argue against the existence of animal emotions. Scientific research in evolutionary biology, cognitive ethology, and social neuroscience supports the view that numerous and diverse animals have rich and deep emotional lives. Emotions have evolved as adaptations in numerous species, and they serve as a social glue to bond animals with one another." And with us, as Bekoff argues in this absorbing and important book. -- Kim Hughes
Product Description
Based on award-winning scientist Marc Bekoff’s years studying social communication in a wide range of species, this important book shows that animals have rich emotional lives. Bekoff skillfully blends extraordinary stories of animal joy, empathy, grief, embarrassment, anger, and love with the latest scientific research confirming the existence of emotions that common sense and experience have long implied. Filled with Bekoff’s light humor and touching stories, The Emotional Lives of Animals is a clarion call for reassessing both how we view animals and how we treat them.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
 Thought Provoking Read! June 8, 2009
C. Helton (Waxahachie, TX USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
To me, this book was a perfect blend of science and compassion ..two "unlikely" bed-partners! Truly eye-opening, interesting, and an inspiring vision of the creatures with whom we share God's earth.
Powerful Apostasy April 24, 2009
Mick McAllister
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the powerful things about Mark Bekoff's books is his professional status as card-carrying scientific researcher. It's easy for the unsympathetic or cynical to dismiss the "When Elephants Weep" genre as sentimental and unscientific. Bekoff can't be dismissed, and he doesn't go quietly. Amazon indicates the book is 240 pages long. True, but the text stops on page 168, and the rest, nearly 2/3s of the book, is notes and bibliography. His sources range from youTube videos to the most obscure technical journals, and his "anecdotal evidence" comes with the authority of a trained observer consulting a community of colleagues.
I would have preferred a longer book, but that is to miss the purpose of this one. The reader looking for in-depth discussion of the information and ideas Bekoff covers can consult the daunting bibliography. "The Emotional Lives of Animals" is for the semi-casual reader, not the researcher. Its purpose is to sway public opinion, not introduce the study of animal sentience.
Confirms What We Already Knew March 10, 2009
Mike (Chicago+Wisconsin)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For animal lovers, this book preaches to the choir. But Marc Bekoff says it with such eloquence. He supports his treatise on animal emotions with current brain and genetic research, and makes the science accessible and understandable to all two-legged animals who share their lives with the four-legged variety.
His description of animal research in laboratories can be a bit graphic but illustrates with compassion the urgent need to address the way we think about animals, and our obligation to foster humane treatment and loving care. This is truly an enjoyable and informative read.
 Charming, but Unimpressive January 12, 2009
Alex Hall (Southwestern University, TX)
3 out of 13 found this review helpful
You've probably acknowledged from other reviews what Beckoff is writing about and how he goes about it, but I would not recommend this book.
Truly, it's been a year since I read it, and I don't feel any different.
Other than convince some invisible audience that animals do in fact have emotions that are susceptible to anthropomorphism, "The Emotional Lives of Animals" is unemotional and not very lively.
understanding animals January 7, 2009
S. Jones (Denver, CO)
This is an excellent book for everyone. If you've ever wondered whether animals feel, love or have other emotions like us, then you will learn much from reading The Emotional Lives of Animals:...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
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