Hold on to your seats, this is a fascinating look at the world of animal and insect senses. Humans tend to see the whole world through our senses only, but the world of animals, insects, and other creatures and how they sense things is very different, diverse, and captivating. Humans are generally oblivious about this whole other world of senses. Ed Yong does a great job of walking us through this whole other world, albeit sometimes a bit technical for me, with a lot of details. From the taste buds of catfish (wow) to the intricate dance of positive and negative draws of insects and flowers, to echolocation and more, this book literally opened my senses to the world around me. Incorporating what we know about animal senses into how we operate in the human world would make a huge difference in mitigating/eliminating issues such as wildlife impacts as a result of wind turbines, etc. I found it best to read this book over a period of time in small doses, unlike Yong’s other book I read - I Contain Multitudes, which I felt was easier to digest at a faster pace. Not better, just different. All in all a great read. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

AHH THIS WAS SO AMAZING! It was like this book was made for me. Really cool and niche facts about all kinds of animals and how they sense the world? Check. History lessons about the origin of popular scientific theories on senses? Check. Interviews with animal scientists at the cutting edge of research on animal senses? Check. Tie-ins with the Anthropocene and COVID-19 and how humans are impacting animals' abilities to use their senses? Check, check, and check!

I absolutely loved the way the material in this book was presented. The author first takes you on a journey through senses more familiar to us, like taste, smell, and vision. Despite the perceived familiarity of these senses, there was such a wide variety of examples presented for how different animals use these senses that I was always surprised. The descriptions of how different animals might see the world in various ways were especially cool! I have a newfound reverence for birds from the chapter on seeing color alone.

He then moves on to senses a bit harder for us to imagine, like sensing heat, vibrations, and various methods animals use to sense sound. I found these to be the most technically intense of the book, but it was still easy enough to follow and the underlying physics and biology were well explained. These chapters left me in awe at how much I am missing by not being able to hear infrasound or ultrasound. The world is so much louder than we think!

The author then focuses on senses that are pretty much impossible for humans to imagine, such as echolocation and sensing electric or magnetic fields. The chapter on echolocation was by far my ultimate favorite!!! I learned so much about bats and toothed whales, and how precise and COOL their senses can be. The author also really tries hard to describe sensing electricity or magnetic fields in a way that we can imagine, as he really wants you to appreciate what these animals perceive. And the animal facts in these chapters were also so mindblowing- I had no idea there is still so much we don't know about these senses!

The end of this book tied everything together nicely by reminding us that animals combine many of the different senses he describes as they navigate the world, and that human activity has been slowly but surely limiting their perception, mainly through light and sound pollution.

Overall this is for sure one of my all-time favorite books, and I learned so much about animals and all the things they can "see" or "feel" that are invisible to me. Will definitely be buying a physical copy once this comes out!

An Immense World is a well-written book by Ed Yong, whom I’ve enjoyed hearing discuss covid on NPR over the past couple years, and is scheduled for publication June 21st.

It’s an immense book, also, filled with examples of various animals and their senses from sight and sonar to electric and magnetic fields, and the ways humans try to learn about them. I’m not very interested in the scientific details (cells, neurons, rods, cones, whatever) of how something works, but rather in the variety of results in how the animal relates to the world. The author does a good job of mixing these aspects so that my eyes would only glaze over briefly.

I often found myself looking up photos of the animals being written about, such as when I wanted to see a scallop’s dozens of (often bright blue) eyes. Apparently, many species can see the ultraviolet light which we can not--we like to think we see the world accurately, but we’re really just another species like all of them, who use their senses to live in a species subjective world. The author makes the point that this is not a book about ranking or superiority, but about diversity, and that all creatures have worth in themselves, quoting a passage about animals from Henry Beston which I’ve always loved. And yet . . .

When encountering new facts about an animal, I’d often think how fascinating it was. If you like the subject and accept it at face value, you’ll enjoy the book. But thinking of the experiments needed to learn those facts, I’d be reminded of how humans regard the planet and all life on it merely as objects to be manipulated. If a person uses other people that way, they’re considered narcissistic, sociopathic, self-centered, egotistical, etc. I don’t believe there’s a meaningful difference when the attitude is directed toward other forms of life. Sure, cool facts, and occasionally we even use those facts to try to solve a problem we created, but I would have been a lot happier living in a society which had fewer cool facts about other forms of life and more respect for that life. That society probably wouldn’t have created the problems in the first place.

In the final chapter, the author moves away from particular senses and examples to a bigger picture. He justly bemoans the damage our species has done to the planet and the interference done to animals’ lives inadvertently, but all of the previous chapters are about interference done deliberately. Conveniently, it turns out that he considers our ability to try to figure out other animals our greatest sensory skill and that we must choose to do so (to give credit, he does acknowledge it’s not something we’ve earned). So much for other animals having worth in themselves—their lives are ours to control.

He also mentions that he agrees with Cronon’s famous essay about the word wilderness and how it affects the human/nature relationship. There have been many rebuttals and clarifications about that essay over the years, all of it is just human-centered wordplay, but I have to comment. Sure, if you have a backyard, it’s a form of nature you can find wonder in, and it should be respected and treated with care. It may be wilderness for an insect, but a grizzly bear or a wolverine can’t live there. I lived in Yellowstone for four years, and to claim that everywhere is wilderness and there is no qualitative difference in the value of different locations is simply foolish. People are dependent on and should live as a part of nature, but most in this country don’t. When people try to spend as much of their lives as possible removed from nature, it’s disingenuous to claim that people are a part of it when it’s convenient to the argument.

To sum up, a lot of information about animal senses and how those senses affect how the animals live (or evolutionarily vice versa), and a lot of concern expressed about them and the planet. The concerns are valid but they don’t question the status quo deeply enough. It’s like being meticulous about recycling while living a high consumption lifestyle, or only eating free range chickens—it might make you feel better, but it doesn’t solve the underlying problem. People who have an interest in animals but believe people are more important than anything else will enjoy the book. People who don’t share that opinion will learn a lot of details but be left unsatisfied.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the advance copy to review.

A bit dense at times but, ultimately, a beautiful meditation on the natural world. Would highly recommend for nature and animal lovers.

This book was terrific!
It is about senses and how sidebars species perceive the world. The author uses engaging stories and vivid descriptions that truly make you feel that you can almost imagine how these animals perceive the world.
There are fun facts, humor, and great research. If you are a fan of science, of Mary Roach's books, and of annoying your spouse every time you read the next cool fact... you will love this book.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
#animmenseworld #netgalley

"The first step to understanding another animal's Umwelt (a being's perceptual world, you'll see this word a lot) is to understand what it uses its senses FOR."

I started reading articles by Ed Yong during the Covid outbreak, so I was excited to get a chance to read an early copy of this book (thank you, Random House and NetGalley for that opportunity!) to get his take on the world of animals and how they experience the world and I can only say - wow! An Immense World is fantastic and fascinating from the get-go. Every other page blew my mind with interesting and fun facts - catfish taste with their whole body, you will never again smell popcorn without thinking of leopards, and on and on. Yong tackles a lot of information on how animals perceive the world and presents it in an easy-to-read, fun way. I highly recommend this book even if you only read the beginning and learn to walk your dog in a more dog-friendly way!

What a delight!

I am a longtime fan of Ed Yong. He is one of my favorite popular science authors. I have loved his first book, "I contain multitudes”, but for years I was also following his writing in The Atlantic. His painstaking COVID coverage was brilliant and eye-opening. I remember how frank he was about the cost of spending almost two years immersed in such a harrowing topic, and how he announced that he will take a few months off to finish his book, on which he worked when the pandemic struck. And here it is, a perfect break from grim tales of the many dark months.

The subject of animal senses is as fascinating as bacteria, on which he focused in his first book (though I think Yong could make any topic interesting). He takes readers on a breathtaking tour, sharing his discoveries and his amazement with the natural world. He has an unrivaled ability to explain complicated scientific facts in a comprehensive and engaging manner. And his writing is so warm and funny - I always appreciate a good pun and he doesn’t miss any opportunity to make one.

You will find here answers to many questions you may have been asking yourself, such as “how does a dog's sense of smell works” or “are other animals see the same colors as we”. But Yong also answers questions that you would never think to ask, and these are the best parts. One of my favorite new, mind-boggling facts that I have learned from this book is that animals see at different speeds - so according to a turtle we humans are buzzing around like busy bees, and to a bee - we are sluggish as turtles.

Many thanks to the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.