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Overview
Certain insects and animals such as bees, birds, bats, fish, and dolphins possess senses that lie far beyond the realm of human experience. Examples include echolocation, internal navigation systems, and systems based on bioelectricity. In this book Howard C. Hughes tells the story of these "exotic" senses. He tells not only what has been discovered but how it was discovered—including historical misinterpretations of animal perception that we now view with amusement.The book is divided into four parts: biosonar, biological compasses, electroperception,and chemical communication. Although it is filled with fascinating descriptions of animal sensitivities—the sonar system of a bat, for example, rivals that of the most sophisticated human-made devices—the author's goal is to explain the anatomical and physiological principles that underlie them. Knowledge of these mechanisms has practical applications in areas as diverse as marine navigation, the biomedical sciences, and nontoxic pest control. It can also help us to obtain a deeper understanding of more familiar sensory systems and the brain in general. Written in an entertaining, accessible style, the book recounts a tale of wonder that continues today—for who knows what sensory marvels still await discovery or what kind of creatures will provide the insights? Winner of the 1999 AAP/PSP award in the category of Biological Sciences, granted by the Professional/Scholary Reference Division of the Association of American Publishers.
Synopsis
Bees, birds, bats, fish, and dolphins possess senses that lie far beyond the realm of human experience. In this book Howard C. Hughes tells the story of these "exotic" senses.
Publishers Weekly
What's it like to be a bat or a bee? In one sense, we can never know; in another, we can find out by studying the extraordinary perceptual systems by which these and other animals process the world. Bats' sonar lets them discover their prey, their cave-mates and their caves in the pitch-dark. Dolphins use similar sonar systems to discover obstacles, food and one another in the nearly lightless ocean: they even alter their frequencies (like cell phone users) to avoid interference. And chemical communication systems regulate sex in moths, rats, pigs and, probably, people: pigs hunt truffles so well because the valuable fungus contains a pig sex hormone. Hughes, a professor of psychology at Dartmouth, describes not only how these sixth and seventh senses work, but how scientists found out about them. An Italian in the 1790s struck out the eyes of bats (who navigated just fine afterwards); a Swiss surgeon plugged their ears (they got lost). Despite these tests, zoologists until the 1930s believed that bats used not hearing, but some special sense of touch. Most dolphin sonar research, by contrast, requires some measure of dolphin cooperation. Hughes's forays into animal sensoria require that he explain concepts from acoustics, anatomy, neurology, physiology and animal behavior; he does so cleanly and well, though his style can get condescending or gee-whizzish. ("What did [a researcher] see? Well, as already indicated, he saw... ") Nevertheless, readers with any interest in animal biology will want to track this book down--even if they have to use sonar. 124 b&w photos and illustrations. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
What's it like to be a bat or a bee? In one sense, we can never know; in another, we can find out by studying the extraordinary perceptual systems by which these and other animals process the world. Bats' sonar lets them discover their prey, their cave-mates and their caves in the pitch-dark. Dolphins use similar sonar systems to discover obstacles, food and one another in the nearly lightless ocean: they even alter their frequencies (like cell phone users) to avoid interference. And chemical communication systems regulate sex in moths, rats, pigs and, probably, people: pigs hunt truffles so well because the valuable fungus contains a pig sex hormone. Hughes, a professor of psychology at Dartmouth, describes not only how these sixth and seventh senses work, but how scientists found out about them. An Italian in the 1790s struck out the eyes of bats (who navigated just fine afterwards); a Swiss surgeon plugged their ears (they got lost). Despite these tests, zoologists until the 1930s believed that bats used not hearing, but some special sense of touch. Most dolphin sonar research, by contrast, requires some measure of dolphin cooperation. Hughes's forays into animal sensoria require that he explain concepts from acoustics, anatomy, neurology, physiology and animal behavior; he does so cleanly and well, though his style can get condescending or gee-whizzish. ("What did [a researcher] see? Well, as already indicated, he saw... ") Nevertheless, readers with any interest in animal biology will want to track this book down--even if they have to use sonar. 124 b&w photos and illustrations. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.Library Journal
Bats use their own sonar systems to navigate and to catch prey while in flight; so do dolphins and other marine mammals. Hughes (psychology, Dartmouth Coll.) has written a clear and well-illustrated--but sometimes overly chatty--book, aimed at a general audience, about these and other sensory systems. He thoroughly and clearly covers biosonar (a.k.a. echolocation) and electroreception in various species of fish, and he touches on the magnetic and solar biological compasses found in some birds and insects. And although the last four short chapters (on pheromones and chemoreception) seem to have been added later, this is, overall, a well-written and informative introduction to these systems; recommended for public libraries.--Patrick J. Wall, University City P.L., MO Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.From The Critics
Sensory Exotica: A World Beyond Human Experience is a compendium of stories and information regarding the vast array of sensory systems that are utilized by different species, ranging from insects to aquatic mammals to humans. Such systems play a leading role in providing each organism with vital information about its world—the commerce of its survival, if you will. The book begins with a history of the examination of the bat's sonar navigation and predatory mechanisms, which, as the many twists and turns and failed hypotheses pile up, turns out to be an interesting example of the scientific method at work. Next are discussions of variations on a theme, from echolocation in the bat, to sonar, to different forms of sonar, followed by an examination of biological compasses, electroreception, magnetoreception, and, finally, chemical senses such as those that sense pheromones and scents in mammals and other animals.The book lays out in fine—some might say excruciating—detail the translation of basic physical stimuli into a language each species' brain recognizes. One comes away from reading the text with a feeling of awe for the immensity and creativity of nature. Hughes does an excellent job of presenting the facts and the science behind the vast array of sensory systems. The volume is a fine example of the art of scholarship.
If the book has a shortcoming, it is in the realm of the illustrations and drawings that pepper its pages. The black-and-white line drawings leave much to be desired in these days of high-quality graphics, and even the photographs could have been better. The prose overcomes the visual limitations somewhat, but only to a point. To add insult toinjury, the book is rife with typos, errors that even the most lax of editors should have caught. There really is no excuse for this large number of errors (including missing articles, other words, and misspellings).
Still, overall, this is a good book.. It is sure to draw the reader into an area that he or she may not think too interesting; but, upon setting the book down, the reader will approaches the world differently, with new eyes/electroreceptors/vomeronasal organs/magnetoreceptors and/or other sense organs. Highly Recommended, Grades 7-College, Teaching Professional, General Audience. REVIEWER: Dr. Craig Howard Kinsley (University of Richmond)
Marian S. Dawkins
It is refreshing to find a science writer who manages to combine an ability to convey the wonder and excetement of his subject, but at the same time is not seduced by the temptation to imply that everything is fully understood.—Times Literary Supplement