Synopses & Reviews
In this important book, world-renowned biologist Marc Bekoff questions the conventional scientific “wisdom” that denies animal emotions. He makes a strong case for something that every animal lover and pet owner already knows: animals have rich emotional lives that not only can teach us about love, empathy, and compassion but also challenge us to rethink our domination over and too-frequent abuse of them. Bekoff skillfully blends stories of animal grief, joy, embarrassment, anger, and love with current scientific research that confirms the existence of these shared traits between humans and their animal kin. He explores the evolutionary purposes of emotions, the brain structures that produce them, the evolutionary continuum of shared brain structures between species, breakthroughs garnered from new, noninvasive neurological research techniques. Filled with Bekoff’s light humor and touching animal stories from animals around the world, The Emotional Lives of Animals argues for a reassessment of how we view — and treat — our extraordinary animal friends.
Review
Anyone interested in animal emotion will want a copy of this book. Bekoff speaks with the unique authority of an expert who is experiencing the success of a revolution in science and ethics that he helped make and that will endure (if we endure) as one of the signal achievements along with the expansion of human rights and environmentalism of the late twentieth century.”
The BARk
This thought-provoking book could very likely change your life.”
The Animals Voice
Marc Bekoff ably presents the richness and variety of the emotions in nonhuman animals and doesnt hesitate to draw the ethical conclusions implicit in his findings. I hope this book will be widely read by those who care about animals and even more widely by those who dont.”
Peter Singer, professor of bioethics, Princeton University
Synopsis
Based on award-winning scientist Marc Bekoffs 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 Bekoffs 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.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce