Clever as a Fox, Animal Intelligence and What it Can Teach Us About Ourselves

A lively, insightful look at the world of animal intelligence.
Recent evidence has dismissed the belief that animals are simply reflex machines, acting without thought or real consciousness. In response, there has been a rush to examine animal intelligence. Yet what, precisely, is intelligence? Is it the ability to learn, the ability to remember, or the ability to survive? What separates instinct from intelligence? Why are dolphins smarter than eagles and bees smarter than worms? Are cats smarter than dogs?
Clever as a Fox explores the often-misconstrued world of animal intelligence. From B.F. Skinner's behaviorism to evolutionary biology, Sonja Yoerg examines the ways we have come to view motivation and intelligence in animals. By evaluating our complex relationships to animals-why we eat some animals while pampering others is often predicated on a commensurate belief in intelligence, Yoerg offers us a better understanding of our own way of thinking. Entertaining, and scrupulously researched, Clever as a Fox will challenge your previously held notions about animals and the measure of intelligence, both theirs and ours.

Sonja Yoerg earned her Ph.D. in biopsychology from the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focused on the study of learning and foraging in blue jays, pigeons, kangaroo rats, and spotted hyenas, both in the lab and the field. Yoerg is also the author of the three novels published by Penguin/Berkley and spends much of her time gardening and cooking in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.