Play Audiobook Sample
The Genius of Birds Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(0.00) - 0 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
“Lovely, celebratory. For all the belittling of ‘bird brains,’ [Ackerman] shows them to be uniquely impressive machines . . .” —New York Times Book Review
“A lyrical testimony to the wonders of avian intelligence.” —Scientific American
An award-winning science writer tours the globe to reveal what makes birds capable of such extraordinary feats of mental prowess
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores their newly discovered brilliance and how it came about.
As she travels around the world to the most cutting-edge frontiers of research, Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itself that are shifting our view of what it means to be intelligent. At once personal yet scientific, richly informative and beautifully written, The Genius of Birds celebrates the triumphs of these surprising and fiercely intelligent creatures.
Ackerman is also the author of Birds by the Shore: Observing the Natural Life of the Atlantic Coast.
Download and start listening now!
"[A] gloriously provocative and highly entertaining book. Jennifer Ackerman provides a masterly survey of research in the last two decades that has produced a revolution in our understanding of bird cognition. The Genius of Birds [is] important not only for what it says about birds, but also about the human ingenuity entailed in unraveling the mysteries of the avian brain. It is at once a book of knowledge but also a work of wonder and an affirmation of the astonishing complexity of our world."
— Wall Street Journal
Quotes
-
Lovely, celebratory. For all the belittling of ‘bird brains,’ [Ackerman] shows them to be uniquely impressive machines . . .
— New York Times Book Review -
Richly researched . . . The Genius of Birds provides engrossing evidence that will have readers looking at birds in a completely new way.
— The Daily Progress -
A lyrical testimony to the wonders of avian intelligence.
— Scientific American -
Ackerman is a pro at parsing scientific concepts in an accessible style, and her lyrical writing underscores her appreciation for the beauty and adaptability of birds.
— BookPage -
Ackerman writes with a light but assured touch, her prose rich in fact but economical in delivering it. Fans of birds in all their diversity will want to read this one.
— Kirkus Reviews -
Ackerman offers plenty of interesting tidbits and backs them up with the relevant history or science, using footnotes to avoid cluttering the text with anything that might slow a reader down. This is one of those terrific books that makes a scientific topic fun without dumbing it down.
— Washington Independent Review of Books -
I love birds; always have. The only thing better than love is love plus deep appreciation. The Genius of Birds is a journey of deep appreciation for the beautiful geniuses all around us, in our gardens, sharing our air, and sharing more of our minds than we might have expected.
— Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel -
“Delightful, revolutionary, and illuminated by the clean, curious gaze of an intelligent seeker, The Genius of Birds is fueled by awe and always, its close cousin, deep respect for the condition of life. It’s a book that demands a moral consideration of the world.
— Rick Bass, author of The Ninemile Wolves and For A Little While: New and Selected Stories
The Genius of Birds Listener Reviews
Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
About Jennifer Ackerman
Jennifer Ackerman has been writing about science and nature for more than three decades. The Genius of Birds was named one of the best nonfiction books of 2016 by the Wall Street Journal, a Best Science Book by NPR’s Science Friday, and a Nature Book of the Year by the London Sunday Times. The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think was a finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Her articles and essays have appeared in National Geographic, the New York Times Magazine, Scientific American, and many other publications. She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction.