The New York Times Book Review - Jon Mooallem
For centuries, our understanding of animal intelligence has been obscured in [a] kind of cloud of false assumptions and human egotism. De Waal, a primatologist and ethologist who has been examining the fuzzy boundary between our species and others for 30 years, painstakingly untangles the confusion, then walks us through research revealing what a wide range of animal species are actually capable of…De Waal argues that we should attempt to understand a species' intelligence only within its own context, or umwelt: the animal's "self-centered subjective world, which represents only a small tranche of all available worlds." There are many different forms of intelligence; each should be valuated only relative to its environment.
Carl Safina
"So, are we ‘smart enough to know how smart animals are’? The question will occur to you many times as you read Frans de Waal’s remarkable distillations of science in this astonishingly broad-spectrum book. I guarantee one thing: readers come away a lot smarter. As this book shows, we are here on Planet Earth with plenty of intelligent company."
Nancy Szokan
"The book is not only full of information and thought-provoking, it’s also a lot of fun to read."
People
"Astonishing...has the makings of a classic—and one fantastic read."
Daily Beast - Maria Rodale
"A good book. Read it instead of watching TV or playing video games. The whole world will be better as a result."
Temple Grandin
"Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? will completely change your perceptions of the abilities of animals. This book takes the reader on a fascinating journey of discovery into the world of animal problem-solving."
Jon Mooallem
"Walks us through research revealing what a wide range of animal species are actually capable of…[I]t all deals a pretty fierce wallop to our sense of specialness."
Science - Nicola Clayton
"A beautifully written and delightfully conceived popular science book, written by an eminent researcher who has dedicated his career to making the general public aware of just how smart animals are."
The New York Times
"Engaging and informative."
The Guardian - Matthew Cobb
"When I was growing up, aspiring naturalists or behavioral scientists would be given a copy of Konrad Lorenz’s zoological investigation King Solomon’s Ring to inspire them. With its wide-ranging and thought-provoking content, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? is an appropriate 21st-century replacement. If you are at all interested in what it is to be an animal, human or otherwise, you should read this book."
Psychology Today - Marc Bekoff
"A thoughtful and easy read, packed with information stemming from detailed empirical research, and one of de Waal’s most comparative works that goes well beyond the world of nonhuman primates with whom he’s most familiar."
The Guardian
"If you are at all interested in what it is to be an animal, human or otherwise, you should read this book."
Edward O. Wilson
"This is a remarkable book by a remarkable scientist. Drawing on a growing body of research including his own, de Waal shows that animals, from elephants and chimpanzees to the lowly invertebrates, are not only smarter than we thought, but also engaged in forms of thought we have only begun to understand."
The Atlantic - Alison Gopnik
"A passionate and convincing case for the sophistication of nonhuman minds."
Bark
"A fascinating history of the study of animal behavior and cognition."
Psychology Today
A thoughtful and easy read, packed with information stemming from detailed empirical research."
Science
A beautifully written and delightfully conceived popular science book.”
New York Times bestselling author Virginia Morell
De Waal…challenges us to accept the ultimate findings of this research: Our mental skills are the product of evolution, and all animals from spiders to octopuses to ravens and apes are thinkers in their own ways.”
The Atlantic
A passionate and convincing case for the sophistication of nonhuman minds.”
Washington Post
Not only full of information and thought provoking, it’s also a lot of fun to read.”
AudioFile
Sean Runnette narrates with a scholarly voice, at times waxing philosophical…The stories of honey badgers who escape captivity, dolphins who work with fishermen, and parrots who actually converse are fascinating.”
Bark
"A fascinating history of the study of animal behavior and cognition."
JULY 2016 - AudioFile
Sean Runnette narrates with a scholarly voice, at times waxing philosophical. A chimp can plan ahead, gathering straw for warmth against expected cold temperatures. An elephant knows to use a box as a step to get to fruits. Gorillas can disarm poachers' snares. Observations like those make Frans de Waal think humans have underestimated animals' intelligence and cognition. The author’s philosophical or theorizing moments can bog this material down, but not for long. The audiobook keeps returning to its strength, the numerous examples, not just of chimps but also of many other species. The stories of honey badgers who escape captivity, dolphins who work with fishermen, and parrots who actually converse are fascinating. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-02-03
Intrigued by the search for intelligent life? No need for space travel—it's happening right here on Earth, and the results are amazing. De Waal (Psychology/Emory Univ.; The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates, 2013, etc.), the director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, tells us that it takes human ingenuity and respect to comprehend the level of intelligence of an animal. In example after example, he entertainingly demonstrates how researchers with those qualities have revealed surprising things about animal cognition and the porousness of the wall between human and animal cognition. First, for the nonscientist, the author provides some background on scientific thinking about animal behavior, putting paid to the bygone notion that animals are simply stimulus-response mechanisms or are solely driven by genetically endowed instincts. In recent years, scientists have begun to recognize the many surprising abilities of animals. The author's field is primate behavior, and most of the examples come from that field, but elephants, octopuses, squirrels, and magpies are among the many other animals to appear in these pages. He shows us many animals both in the wild and in captivity solving challenging problems, planning future actions, having better-than-human memories, making and handling tools, communicating, and demonstrating empathy and cooperation. De Waal is persuasive in arguing that the difference between the cognition of the human and those of other animals is one of degree, not of kind, and the clarity of his writing makes for a highly readable book. A welcome bonus is the inclusion of rather charming, simple drawings by the author that give the essence of an activity better than a photograph might. For general readers, he includes a helpful glossary, and for those who want more details about the research cited, there is an extensive bibliography. After this edifying book, a trip to the zoo may never be the same.
