Have you ever wondered how a bird, a whale, a bat, or a spider experiences the world? Or perhaps you’ve just wondered what was going on in the mind of a pet dog or cat? We all experience the world through our particular sensory bubbles, our umwelts. The ways the world can reveal itself through these unique senses is as varied as the species that inhabit it.

In his 2022 book, An Immense World..., Pulitzer Prize winning science writer Ed Yong gives us surprising insights into those worlds using the latest research from leading scientists in the field of animal cognition. Using Yong’s book, we will consider the varieties of animal perception and approaches taken by contemporary scientists to explore what’s unique about sensations in various species. We will learn how whales communicate across oceans, how bats use echolocation to hunt in total darkness, how loggerhead turtles and birds sense the earth’s magnetic field for navigation, and how our intrusive actions are contributing to declining animal populations and extinctions.

Format: Each participant will focus on a particular aspect of animal sensation from one of the chapters in the book and lead the group in discussion of that topic. Presentations will address various ways animals sense the world – including unfamiliar ones, such as echoes, electric and magnetic fields, and vibrations – as we increase our awareness and understanding of animal sensation. 

Resources/Expenses: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong is available in paper, used for $13 and up at Amazon and other online providers. There are no additional expenses.