Customer Reviews

Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language

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Current understanding of human language says that we all have portions of our brains directly assigned to language processing, and that every human language is at foundation the same, with nouns, verbs, and so on all doing the same job in each. As described by one theorist, a man from Mars examining humans might find we were all speaking the same language, only in different dialects. What if we looked at an even broader sample of creatures on the planet? Tim Friend, a science journalist, in _Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language_, reviews all the many ways that animals have of talking to each other (not just by sound), to find that there is a far broader understanding between animals of different species (including humans) than we may have guessed before. Humans have developed remarkable and complex verbal languages, but it's the nonverbal communication that we often share with animals. It is not too surprising, given that natural selection and sexual selection have operated on us all from the beginning, that we animals share a range of signals. Not only that, but we talk about the same things every day: "... that is, sex, real estate, who's boss, and what's for dinner."

To be sure, reviewed here are many ways that animals communicate in which humans cannot participate. We don't use the pheromones that bacteria use to exchange information, nor do we signal bees with dances. But insects and animals use yellow or red colors as a universal signal for "stay away," and everyone knows what a rattlesnake's noise means. More significant, however, in Friend's book are the sounds that we share with other animals. Many of these are obvious. For instance, imagine you are talking to a baby; you instinctively use a high pitch and soft, smooth tones. On the other hand, if you are warning a child against touching a hot stove, you use a low pitch, harshness, and staccato. This is the sort of thing that all we animals do, universally. We humans might apply words to the sounds we emit, but we have growls, barks, and whines just as birds, dogs, and lions do. Friend draws upon the work of Eugene Morton to illustrate many instances of the grammatical rules of this nonverbal language. For instance, harsh, low frequency sounds mean the animal is thinking of attacking; high frequency sounds mean submission and lack of hostility if approached. A boss who is angry uses a low voice and stops at every word. A child who wants candy uses a high pleading voice, "Please, please, please." Using the grammar, it is possible for humans to make noises as interspecies communications, modifying the behavior of squirrels or even wolves.

In one species after another, Friend describes the different ways that dominance is asserted and settled. We aren't above such nonverbal communication. A couple of researchers went back to all the presidential debates since 1960. They found that they could pick, by deeper pitch and by voice accommodation patterns, the dominant speaker in each debate, and that the dominant speaker always went on to win the popular vote. (Perhaps the candidates now preparing for the debates ought to spend less time memorizing statistics and more time practicing pitch.) Friend's entertaining book shows that animals all over are using all sorts of surprising ways to talk to each other, and to us, and that if we will but listen, they have plenty to teach us, even about our own ways of communicating to each other.

I cannot recommend this book enough to others who are interested in learning about animal communication. The author makes complex theories fun, understandable and enjoyable to read. There is a section on vervets in chapter two that will blow your mind!

Have you ever wondered if animals are 'talking' and if so, what they're saying? Scientists have been trying to decipher 'animal talk' for centuries, as scientist Tim friend explores in his Animal Talk: Breaking The Codes Of Animal Languages. Here's his Rosetta stone for understanding this language, fostering a readable, fun language while exploring serious scientific breakthroughs on the topic of animal communication. From biology to chemistry and beyond, Animal Talk probes all the potentials of animal communication methods.

This book was superb. It is written so that any reader could understand and follow yet is interesting and accurate so the professional can enjoy and not lose interest. A truly great read, anyone who is remotely interested in animals will enjoy this book.

A well-travelled science writer with an enjoyable style discusses various types of animal communication, from vocalizations to pheramones. Unfortunately the light-hearted writing sometimes gets in the way of presenting interesting information. (But there's some great stuff about the sex lives of dolphins in chapter nine.) If you usually find science books too dry or are interested in animals, give this a try.

A subtle theme occasionally parodied in cartoons and comic strips is how pets often look like their owners. Did this physical similarity lead to the pairing, or did it occur after the pairing? This book might suggest the latter. Specifically, Tim Friend, the author of this book, argues that many animals, especially those closely related to each other, share a common language of sounds, facial expressions, body postures, chemical signals, and other signals not tradionally classified as a verbal language. This form of interspecial communication evolved thru the same Darwinian mechanisms as physical features such as arm length, skin color, and eyesight.

The author looks at specific behaviors among various animals, both within and between species, to prove his point. For example, many dog owners truly believe they can understand their dogs, and vice versa. Bad behavior can be corrected by growls or orders, depending on who is scolding whom. Could all these people be wrong? Likewise, in the wild, animals of different species often interact thru sounds and smells as part of living in a shared environment. This can include the division of prey among different predators, or the sharing of a field by different herbivores.

All in all, this is an interesting book. It is good reading; quite interesting with enough science to keep you interested, but not too much to warrant a science degree. I highly recommend it.

This science book, disguised as a nature travelogue, is a great ride, not to mention engaging and delightfully accessible. You start in the Amazon forest and end up on some of the world's most exotic islands. Along the way, you learn what you have in common with songbirds, glowing bacteria, orcas, and more, and remember why you feel so close to animals. You'll learn Darwinian biology without breaking a sweat. And you'll never again think you can deceive your loved ones by holding your tongue.

This is an incredibly fascinating book. Nearly impossible to put it aside. Anyone who loves and wants to better understand animals, will appreciate the well-researched insight that Tim Friend conveys in this book.