The alarm calls of birds make them difficult for predators to locate, while the howl of wolves and the croak of bullfrogs are designed to carry across long distances. From an engineer's perspective, how do such specialized adaptations among living things really work? And how does physics constrain evolution, channeling it in particular directions? Writing with wit and a richly informed sense of wonder, Denny and McFadzean offer an expert look at animals as works of engineering, each exquisitely adapted to a specific manner of survival, whether that means spinning webs or flying across continents or hunting in the dark-or writing books. This particular book, containing more than a hundred illustrations, conveys clearly, for engineers and nonengineers alike, the physical principles underlying animal structure and behavior. Pigeons, for instance-when understood as marvels of engineering-are flying remote sensors: they have wideband acoustical receivers, hi-res optics, magnetic sensing, and celestial navigation. Albatrosses expend little energy while traveling across vast southern oceans, by exploiting a technique known to glider pilots as dynamic soaring. Among insects, one species of fly can locate the source of a sound precisely, even though the fly itself is much smaller than the wavelength of the sound it hears. And that big-brained, upright Great Ape? Evolution has equipped us to figure out an important fact about the natural world: that there is more to life than engineering, but no life at all without it.
This non-fiction children’s book explains how animals work together to survive and thrive in the wild. It teaches children how important teamwork is, no matter how big or small a creature you are. Charlotte Milner's stunning illustrations blend with photographs to create engaging animal scenes that children will love to pore over again and again. Discover why teamwork is so important for different groups of animals in the wild. Inside this animal book for children, you’ll find: • A stunning picture book that introduces children to a range of different animal groups, including a pack of wolves, flock of birds and school of fish • A range of habitats, including mountains, coral reefs and the Amazon rainforest • Stunning illustrations by award-winning author and illustrator Charlotte Milner, who wrote and illustrated The Bee Book series • Engaging text introduces children to different types of animal groups and how they work together in the wild Have you ever asked why birds swoop and soar in a flock? Or wondered where an army of ants is marching? This beautiful animal book takes young readers through a range of habitats, from snowy mountains to colorful coral reefs, to discover different groups of animals and how they work together to survive in their environments. Children will learn fascinating fun facts along the way. For example, did you know that a group of monkeys is called a troop? Or that flying in flocks means birds can sleep as they fly? Combined with gentle learning and simple, lyrical text, Animal Teams is perfect for reading aloud which presents many early learning benefits including language development. This exquisite children’s educational book is unique in its ability to educate little ones about the animal kingdom while also teaching them about the importance of teamwork in their own lives.
Around the world, animals do all kinds of work in this handsomely-painted board book. Animals herd, carry, pull . . . and keep us company! Caldecott Honoree Ted Lewin presents a dozen different animals working across the world, showcasing the many different ways humans and animals live and work together. This sturdy board book, illustrated in realistic watercolors, transports young readers from an open field where a dog herds sheep to a wintry forest where a reindeer pulls a sledge across the snow. Depicting the give and take of human relationships with a dozen different animals, this is a perfect book to share with curious young readers!
“A touching and provocative exploration of the latest research on animal minds and animal emotions” from the renowned anthropologist and author (The Washington Post). Scientists have long cautioned against anthropomorphizing animals, arguing that it limits our ability to truly comprehend the lives of other creatures. Recently, however, things have begun to shift in the other direction, and anthropologist Barbara J. King is at the forefront of that movement, arguing strenuously that we can—and should—attend to animal emotions. With How Animals Grieve, she draws our attention to the specific case of grief, and relates story after story—from fieldsites, farms, homes, and more—of animals mourning lost companions, mates, or friends. King tells of elephants surrounding their matriarch as she weakens and dies, and, in the following days, attending to her corpse as if holding a vigil. A housecat loses her sister, from whom she’s never before been parted, and spends weeks pacing the apartment, wailing plaintively. A baboon loses her daughter to a predator and sinks into grief. In each case, King uses her anthropological training to interpret and try to explain what we see—to help us understand this animal grief properly, as something neither the same as nor wholly different from the human experience of loss. The resulting book is both daring and down-to-earth, strikingly ambitious even as it’s careful to acknowledge the limits of our understanding. Through the moving stories she chronicles and analyzes so beautifully, King brings us closer to the animals with whom we share a planet, and helps us see our own experiences, attachments, and emotions as part of a larger web of life, death, love, and loss.
The author of "Animals in Translation" employs her own experience with autism and her background as an animal scientist to show how to give animals the best and happiest life.
"For those unaware—as I was until I read this book—that Mark Twain was one of America's early animal advocates, Shelley Fisher Fishkin's collection of his writings on animals will come as a revelation. Many of these pieces are as fresh and lively as when they were first written, and it's wonderful to have them gathered in one place." —Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation and The Life You Can Save “A truly exhilarating work. Mark Twain's animal-friendly views would not be out of place today, and indeed, in certain respects, Twain is still ahead of us: claiming, correctly, that there are certain degraded practices that only humans inflict on one another and upon other animals. Fishkin has done a splendid job: I cannot remember reading something so consistently excellent."—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep and The Face on Your Plate "Shelley Fisher Fishkin has given us the lifelong arc of the great man's antic, hilarious, and subtly profound explorations of the animal world, and she's guided us through it with her own trademark wit and acumen. Dogged if she hasn't." —Ron Powers, author of Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain and Mark Twain: A Life
One of the biggest adaptations made by some animals is to live and work together as a group to ensure their survival. This intriguing book shows how social animals communicate and interact with members of their own species. Elephants, dolphins and orcas, monkeys, apes, lions, and wolves, educate their young, work together to find food, and take care of their group members. Smaller animals that work together in microsocieties include termites, ants, bees, and wasps. Students will have fun comparing their own social groups to those found in nature. Fascinating photographs accompany thought-provoking questions and activities.
Social Work and Animals represents a pioneering contribution to the literature of social work ethics and moral philosophy. It advances cogent and detailed arguments for the inclusion of animals within social work's moral framework, arguments that have profound theoretical and practical implications for the discipline and its practitioners.