Cognitive ethology (the study of animal intelligence) is a young science and like so many newer studies it has its fair share of critics. Interestingly much of the criticism comes from within other current fields of study (sociobiology and evolutionary psychology for example). Bekoff tackles these issues head on and if you have read a little in this field you'll know that this means engaging some of our brightest thinkers - Daniel C Dennett, E.O Wilson, Marc Hauser, Noam Chomsky. A lot of the debate about animal intelligence centers on language and communication. Primatologists such as Jane Goodall and Franz de Waal, like Bekoff, tend to argue that human capacity for language is an inappropriate criteria for determining animal intelligence.

This is an overly simplified summary of Bekoff's field of study and his explanations are much clearer. The book however is much more than a scientific primer on cognitive ethology. No longer does naming animals, loving them, and anthropomorphizing detract from the scientific study of their behavior. Bekoff shows that by MINDING ANIMALS scientists are able to get fascinating insights into behavior. Stories here about dreaming rats, thinking bees, and happy elephants, far from being anecdotal, are now shedding new light onto behavior such as grooming, dominance, mating, and feeding.

It was less than twenty years ago that it was discovered that elephants communicated by ultrasound and only recently did we find out that African Grey parrots understand concepts such as size, color, shape, and can compare and contrast items. Enjoy this fascinating read and then just imagine...


Appreciating Animals Minds   May 15, 2002
 29 out of 31 found this review helpful

Marc Bekoff's Minding Animals offers us a unique look into the wonderful and diverse minds of animals. All too often we glaze over true animal emotions and feelings because society has wanted us to believe animals are a lesser developed species than humans. That animals are not able to demonstrate traits thought only to be "human." However, Bekoff's book and his previous publications clearly demonstrate how terribly wrong and simple this is. Animals posses deep and unique minds capable of endless emotions, thoughts and actions. Simply because humans are not capable of understanding the animal mind in terms that can be communicated does not mean the animal mind does not exist. A serious flaw (one of many) in human nature is to discount unknown possibilities. It is unimaginable to us today that the great astronomer Galileo was persecuted for saying the Earth rotated around the Sun or that Christopher Columbus said the world was round. Even the youngest children know these facts today. Nobody knew how closely related we were to the chimpanzee until a young British woman named Jane Goodall went to Africa only 40 years ago and discovered the distinct behaviors of chimpanzees, such as tool use, communication and social bonding to mention just a few.

Readers of Minding Animals will come across stories they have also experienced with animals and learn new stories that will help them appreciate all animals even more. Bekoff's book allows us to enjoy and appreciate animals that are not lesser beings, but animals that live their own unique lives and add something special to our own lives and the plant.