Jackie Higgins explains how the animal kingdom has given us new insights into how our senses function in a vivid and highly readable study
What can a ballet dancer pirouetting on the spot learn from studying the fastest mammal on earth? And why did the US navy investigate the feathers of owls in its quest for stealthier submarines? These are questions that Jackie Higgins, a film-maker and author who studied zoology as a student of Richard Dawkins, addresses in Sentient, which weaves scientific research into the animal kingdom with new insights into the ways our senses function.
It was once thought that there are only five senses, but neurobiologists such as Colin Blakemore now believe there could be more than 30, each with its own dedicated receptors. Every chapter in the book tackles a different sense through an exploration of a particular animal’s specialised skill, one that has arisen from a unique anatomy, and then explores what we can learn from this about humans.
We learn that the swamp-dwelling star-nosed mole has 22 tiny tentacles on its wondrous snout
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