Summary: A leading authority on dolphin intelligence shares scientific information about dolphin creativity, emotions, and communication abilities while advocating for stronger dolphin protection laws.
Choice Reviews
Occasionally, scientists write books on their work, ideas, and life in a way that enlightens and enthralls readers. This is one of those books. Noted dolphin researcher Reiss (psychology, Hunter College, CUNY) has a great subject, as dolphins have fascinated people through the ages. She takes readers from the history of human interactions with dolphins to the modern scientific effort to understand what they are "thinking." The book begins with the fascinating story of the rescue of the humpback whale Humphrey from the river near San Francisco. This is followed by an account of the author's journey of her work with dolphin behavior, inspired by the belief that they were intelligent and by the need to find out how to measure this. Along the way, there are glimpses into the difficult world of research--the early belief that only humans had any useful intelligence, the difficulty of finding funding and locations for studies of large marine animals, and the problem of producing scientific proof and getting work published. Reiss ends by discussing animal and particularly dolphin minds, juxtaposing her respect for them with her efforts to see the slaughter of these animals in Japan stopped. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Academic and general readers, all levels. Copyright 2012 American Library Association.
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