Animal Architects: Building and the Evolution of Intelligence

James L Gould

ISBN 10: 0465027822 / ISBN 13: 9780465027828

Published by Basic Books, 2007

About this Item

Offers an approach to understanding animal minds through the structures they build. This book examines animal architecture across a range of species, from those whose blueprints are largely innate (such as spiders and their webs) to those whose challenging structures seem to require intellectual insight.

Seller Inventory # CIN0465027822VG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Animal Architects: Building and the Evolution of Intelligence
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465027822
• ISBN 13: 9780465027828
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Animal behavior has long been a battleground between the competing claims of nature and nurture, with the possible role of cognition in behavior as a recent addition to this debate. There is an untapped trove of behavioral data that can tell us a great deal about how the animals draw from these neural strategies: The structures animals build provide a superb window on the workings of the animal mind. Animal Architects examines animal architecture across a range of species, from those whose blueprints are largely innate (such as spiders and their webs) to those whose challenging structures seem to require intellectual insight, planning, and even aesthetics (such as bowerbirds' nests, or beavers' dams). Beginning with instinct and the simple homes of solitary insects, James and Carol Gould move on to conditioning; the “cognitive map” and how it evolved; and the role of planning and insight. Finally, they reflect on what animal building tells us about the nature of human intelligence-showing why humans, unlike many animals, need to build castles in the air.

About the Author

James L. Gould is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University and one of the world's leading experts in animal behavior. With science writer Carol Grant Gould he has written The Animal Mind, Sexual Selection, and The Honey Bee, all considered classic books on animal behavior for lay audiences. They live in Princeton, New Jersey. Science writer Carol Grant Gould and James L. Gould have written The Animal Mind, Sexual Selection, and The Honey Bee, all considered classic books on animal behavior for lay audiences. They live in Princeton, New Jersey.