Beyond Words - Hardcover

"Dr. Safina is a terrific writer, majestic and puckish in equal measure, with a contagious enthusiasm...Dr. Safina draws out haunting resonances between animal lives and our own... [Beyond Words] carries pleasing echoes of the poet Gary Snyder...Captivating." --Gregory Cowles, The New York Times (Science) "Once in a long while, a book is published that felicitously combines lambent writing with dazzling facts, while also illuminating our knowledge of significant and engaging subjects. Beyond Words by Carl Safina, a scientist who has won a MacArthur Fellowship and a Lannan Literary Award, is one of these exemplary books. " --Susan Sheehan, Washington Post "Brilliant... an unprecedented exploration of animals and...makes intimate these wild animals in vivid family portraits...each of Safina's beautifully limned animal portraits is the weight of human influence, and a challenge to exercise the power of empathy... [Safina] is a font of research, his wonder contagious." --Elle "A beautifully written, provocative case for seeing animals through their eyes." --Discover Magazine "Captivating...A profound, scientifically based appeal for recognition of the kinship of all living things." --Kirkus, starred review ..".Excellent... compelling... brings forth powerful and illuminating insight into the unique personalities of animals...Wise, passionate, and eye-opening at every turn, Beyond Words is ultimately a graceful examination of humanity's place in the world... Dr. Safina's book truly is a gem -- extremely thoughtful and important and most timely... " --Psychology Today "Safina's engaging writing takes readers along on his journey, so that we learn about these creatures as he does... The result is a meandering, entertaining tour of the animal kingdom, with pit stops for both amusing anecdotes and the latest scientific studies of animal behavior...entertaining and informative..." --Slate "In this mind-bending book, Safina takes the reader along with him on his adventures, enlightening and educating at each of his stops." --Publishers Weekly "This well-researched book is a fascinating and thought-provoking investigation of different ways of viewing non-human creatures and their inner lives." --Library Journal "Carl Safina shows there is indeed intelligent life in the universe, and it's all around us. At once moving and surprising, Beyond Words asks us to reexamine our relationship to other species-and to ourselves." --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction "This book breathes love of and respect for animals and is rich with observations and extraordinary travel experiences. It is a delightful and enlightening account of both how we relate to them and how they relate to each other." --Frans de Waal, author of The Bonobo and the Atheist "Safina offers a rich and often heart-touching account of his journeys with scientists exploring the minds and emotions of elephants, wolves, and dolphins. His compassion and empathy for animals shines throughout, and he uses both to illuminate the booming field of animal cognition. A beautifully written, accessible, and compelling read." --Virginia Morell, author of Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel "Carl Safina's books contain a crucial jewel that refracts the experience of nature in a new and truthful way. In this emotional and scientific adventure, Safina somehow manages to produce a view of animal intelligence that is genuinely new, and truly enlightening." --Paul Greenberg, author of American Catch and Four Fish "Beyond Words is a must-read. Animals think, mourn, dream, make plans, and communicate complex messages in much the same way that we do. Readers who knew this already will rejoice, others will learn the truth, and the more of us who capture the message, the sooner we will change the world." --Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs "Beyond Words is a great read, seamlessly weaving scientific data with wonderful stories. People will feel 'rewilded' and motivated to do more on behalf of the innumerable animals who need our help. By expanding our compassion footprint we not only help other animals but also ourselves." --Marc Bekoff, author of Rewilding Our Hearts and The Emotional Lives of Animals "Beyond Words is such a beautiful book, deep and tender, and will make you stay up all night reading. Carl Safina has a rare gift for imparting scientific insight with a storyteller's grace, and he writes with great knowledge and compassion. This vivid, far-ranging, and compassionate work is destined to become a classic." --Luanne Rice, author of The Lemon Orchard and Beach Girls

Long before his work as an ocean conservationist, Carl Safina's childhood by the long island shore launched a life-long passion for animals. Since then, his collected work has sought to inspire respect and improved understanding for wildlife. In his wise and passionate new book, Safina delves deeply into the lives of animals, witnessing their profound capacity for perception, thought, and emotion. Weaving observation with new understanding of brain functioning, his narrative erases many previously held distinctions between humans and other animals. Who we are as individuals depends on who we are to others, and on who others are to us. Relationships define us. Certain non-humans, too, live lives focused around rich social relationships. If tragedy befalls key individuals, survivors confront lasting repercussions. Like us, these animals know who they are. In Beyond Words, readers travel from Kenya to visit the Sheldrake elephant orphanage, to Yellowstone National Park to observe free-living wolves sorting out the aftermath of their personal tragedy, to the whales of Hero Strait off of Vancouver. Safina delivers a graceful examination of how animals truly think and feel, which calls to question what really does -and should- make us human.