WONDERDOG
How the Science of Dogs Changed the Science of Life - Winner of the Barker Book Award for Non-Fiction
1st Edition
Published on 12. May 2022
288 pages
978-1-4729-8423-4 (ISBN)
Description
WINNER OF THE 2022 BARKER BOOK AWARDS FOR NON-FICTION.
'Heartwarming.' THE TIMES
'A delightful read.' KATE MACDOUGALL
'Just the thing for dog lovers.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
'Brilliant.' PROFESSOR ALICE ROBERTS
'Amusing and enlightening.' COUNTRYMAN
'Fascinating and eye-opening.' DR JESS FRENCH
'A wonderful book!' VIRGINIA MORRELL
'Profound.' THE GUARDIAN
How dogs defied science and changed the way we think about animals
What do dogs really think of us? What do dogs know and understand of the world? Do their emotions feel like our own? Do they love like we do?
Driven by his own love of dogs, Charles Darwin was nagged by questions like these. To root out answers, his contemporaries toyed with dog sign language. To reveal clues, they made special puzzle boxes and elaborate sniff tests using old socks. Later, the same perennial questions about the minds of dogs drove Pavlov and Pasteur to unspeakable cruelty in their search for truth. These big names in science influenced leagues of psychologists and animal behaviourists, each building upon the ideas and received wisdom of previous generations but failing to see what was staring them in the face - that the very methods humans used to study dogs' minds were influencing the insights reflected back.
To discover the impressive cognitive feats that dogs are capable of, a new approach was needed. Treated with love and compassion, dogs would open up their unique perspective on the world, and a new breed of scientists would be provided answers to life's biggest questions.
Wonderdog is the story of those dogs - a historical account of how we came to know what dogs are capable of. It's a celebration of animal minds and the secrets they hold. And it's a love letter to science, through the good times and the bad.
'Heartwarming.' THE TIMES
'A delightful read.' KATE MACDOUGALL
'Just the thing for dog lovers.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
'Brilliant.' PROFESSOR ALICE ROBERTS
'Amusing and enlightening.' COUNTRYMAN
'Fascinating and eye-opening.' DR JESS FRENCH
'A wonderful book!' VIRGINIA MORRELL
'Profound.' THE GUARDIAN
How dogs defied science and changed the way we think about animals
What do dogs really think of us? What do dogs know and understand of the world? Do their emotions feel like our own? Do they love like we do?
Driven by his own love of dogs, Charles Darwin was nagged by questions like these. To root out answers, his contemporaries toyed with dog sign language. To reveal clues, they made special puzzle boxes and elaborate sniff tests using old socks. Later, the same perennial questions about the minds of dogs drove Pavlov and Pasteur to unspeakable cruelty in their search for truth. These big names in science influenced leagues of psychologists and animal behaviourists, each building upon the ideas and received wisdom of previous generations but failing to see what was staring them in the face - that the very methods humans used to study dogs' minds were influencing the insights reflected back.
To discover the impressive cognitive feats that dogs are capable of, a new approach was needed. Treated with love and compassion, dogs would open up their unique perspective on the world, and a new breed of scientists would be provided answers to life's biggest questions.
Wonderdog is the story of those dogs - a historical account of how we came to know what dogs are capable of. It's a celebration of animal minds and the secrets they hold. And it's a love letter to science, through the good times and the bad.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
Black and white chapter header artworks
ISBN-13
978-1-4729-8423-4 (9781472984234)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Jules Howard
Wonderdog
How the Science of Dogs Changed the Science of Life - WINNER OF THE BARKER BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION
Book
06/2023
Bloomsbury Sigma
€16.50
Shipment within 10-20 days
Jules Howard
Wonderdog
How the Science of Dogs Changed the Science of Life - WINNER OF THE BARKER BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION
Book
05/2022
Bloomsbury Sigma
€43.51
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Jules Howard is a UK-based zoological correspondent, science writer and broadcaster who writes for the Guardian, BBC Wildlife and Science Focus. His books for adults include Sex on Earth (2014) and Death on Earth (2016), shortlisted for the Royal Society of Biology Book Prize. He has appeared regularly on TV and radio shows, including Good Morning Britain, BBC Radio Five Live, BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 4, Springwatch Unsprung and Channel 4's Sunday Brunch.
Content
Prologue
Introduction
SECTION I: SIT, STAY
1: From the streets they came
2: Emancipation Day
3: Sacrificed for science
4: The Brown Dog Affair
SECTION II: FETCH, RETRIEVE
5: Alpha, beta, doubter
6: Skinner, unboxed
7: The cognition ignition
8: How nature met nurture
SECTION III: MEET, PLAY, LOVE
9: What is it like to be a dog?
10: Flip, the switch
11: The power of play
12: To see love coming
Epilogue: ... and see love depart
Acknowledgements
Research notes and further reading
Index
Introduction
SECTION I: SIT, STAY
1: From the streets they came
2: Emancipation Day
3: Sacrificed for science
4: The Brown Dog Affair
SECTION II: FETCH, RETRIEVE
5: Alpha, beta, doubter
6: Skinner, unboxed
7: The cognition ignition
8: How nature met nurture
SECTION III: MEET, PLAY, LOVE
9: What is it like to be a dog?
10: Flip, the switch
11: The power of play
12: To see love coming
Epilogue: ... and see love depart
Acknowledgements
Research notes and further reading
Index
