The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

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Montgomery's style is easily accessible, including lots of facts and anecdotes slipped artfully in to the thoughtful prose. View image in fullscreen More like us than our hubris allows … an octopus in an aquarium in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany. She brushes over things I was aching to know more about (how on earth do the vet techs perform surgery on fish? We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. She’s also had two poems shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and one poem nominated for the Forward Prize, as well as being placed in several other competitions.

Michael Stavaric and Michèle Ganser have created a non-fiction book full of surprising twists and turns that offer much more than just imparting knowledge. Octopus Mind plays with an array of rich and original metaphors to explore the intricacies of neurodiversity, perception and the human mind. Cephalopods, which encompass creatures like squids, cuttlefish, and octopuses, stand as some of nature's most peculiar inhabitants. In his singular universe, televisions talk (and sometimes sing), animals live in small apartments where their nephews visit from the sea, and men and women and boys and girls fall down wells and fly through space and find love on Ferris wheels.One of my early jobs was with the Washington Department of Wildlife public information department, writing about fish, as well as other wildlife-related topics. Without bones or outer shells, they possess the remarkable ability to alter their shape, almost resembling characters from Gary Larson's extraterrestrial sketches. There is also a fair chunk dedicated to giant cuttlefish, an animal I knew very little about before I read this book and which was probably my highlight of the book. Few people have ever seen a Jellycat product on the shelf and resisted picking it up – or at the very least letting out an “aww”! However, the anecdotes (especially lengthy personal testimony about the authors observations while diving) seem to pad out the sparse scientific evidence.

She has never gotten over the sudden death of her only child, Erik, who disappeared mysteriously in the Puget Sound one night in the spring of his senior year in high school 30 years ago. This passion led me to Anna Merz’s story and my growing appreciation of the power of the animal/human connection and how much communication can take place without language.

As a journalist and author and a young father, I’ve come to seek more vigorously things that make me smile, things I can cherish and appreciate. Each of its eight arms has an array of sensors, and a nervous system so complex it is like a secondary brain. They even see with their skin, replicating the terrain around or below using a layered screen of pixel-like cells known as chromatophores, iridophores and leucophores to detect and reflect the shade and pattern of rocks or sand. In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a philosopher, skilfully combines science, philosophy and his experiences of swimming among these tentacled beasts to illuminate the origin and nature of consciousness.

There’s a good argument to be made that humans might be a less successful animal species precisely because of our amazing, complex intelligence. A charming, heartfelt and unforgettable novel about life, love and long walks, perfect for fans of Marley and Me and The Art of Racing in the Rain. Inky from the National Aquarium in New Zealand is quite the octo-hero, and there are several books about this very clever octopus! They aren’t inquisitive and grabby like octopuses; although some are crotchety and others are friendly, some of them will ignore humans on purpose, acting as if they don’t recognize humans as animals at all. Peter Godfrey-Smith is a distinguished professor of philosophy at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and a professor of the history and philosophy of science at the University of Sydney.This book is a captivating journey through the diverse minds that inhabit our planet, blending beauty, deep contemplation, and a touch of humor. In this post, we are going to get into all of the weird and wonderful details behind their superpowered SKIN! After reading Sy Montgomery’s incredible book The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness, I now know why. I sometimes felt that she was maybe a bit too wishful in imputing as many human emotions and feelings to octopuses as she has done in this book, but then again perhaps that's due to my own ignorance of octopuses. However, it is not as simple as that: cuttlefish can also “see” with the layers of chromatophores in their skin; making particular colours with higher level chromatophores changes the response of ones in deeper layers.

I have given this to 3 ocean biologists, an administrator in the world wildlife fund, a lover of nonfiction, a college student, and curious animal lovers and have received rave reviews. An epic and fun history spanning from the mollusks that invented swimming to the octopuses and other intelligent cephalopods of today Publisher's Note: Monarchs of the Sea was previously published in hardcover as Squid Empire.He also describes his life among the octopus, scuba diving to observe and get to know a small colony. They play; they recognise individuals (both human and octopus); and, like us, they exhibit qualities of caution and recklessness as they intuit the world. She is completely unaware of how terrible she is and at one point is mocking another diver for being the 'pukey guy' before going on and on about her ear problems constantly holding up the dive. Found this book quite absorbing as to the origins, behaviour of octopuses, other cephalopods with the rest of life on this planet and know considerably more than I did about their intriguing species; certainly worth a read noting that the author is a philosopher not a marine scientist so quite an achievement.