Chasing Doctor Dolittle

Chasing Doctor Dolittle PDF Author: C. N. Slobodchikoff
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 031261179X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Discusses how animals are capable of interacting intelligently through vocal and physical methods, drawing on work with prairie dogs to present evidence of animal communication methods and how they can be imitated by human researchers.

Chasing Doctor Dolittle

Chasing Doctor Dolittle PDF Author: C. N. Slobodchikoff
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 031261179X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Discusses how animals are capable of interacting intelligently through vocal and physical methods, drawing on work with prairie dogs to present evidence of animal communication methods and how they can be imitated by human researchers.

Chasing Doctor Dolittle

Chasing Doctor Dolittle PDF Author: Con Slobodchikoff
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1250012058
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
"Slobodchikoff's ground-breaking research" (Jonathan Balcombe) shows us that animals have much to teach us about language Groundbreaking research has been done teaching animals human language, but what about the other way around? Studies have shown that lizards, squid, monkeys, and birds are talking to each other, communicating information about food, predators, squabbles, and petty jealousies. These animal languages are unique and highly adaptive. By exploring them, we come to appreciate the basis of our own languages; understanding or even "speaking" them allows us to get closer to the other species who inhabit this planet with us. The implications of animals having language are enormous. It has been one of the last bastions separating "us" from "them." Slobodchikoff's studies of the communication system of prairie dogs over twenty-five years have attracted a considerable amount of attention from the media, including a one-hour documentary on his work produced by BBC and Animal Planet. In Chasing Doctor Dolittle, he posits that the difference is one of degree, not the vast intellectual chasm that philosophers have talked about for millennia. Filled with meticulous research, vivid examples and daring conclusions, this book will challenge the reader's assumptions and open up new possibilities of understanding our fellow creatures.

Doctor Dolittle's Delusion

Doctor Dolittle's Delusion PDF Author: Stephen R. Anderson
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300115253
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
Annotation Dr. Dolittle--and many students of animal communication--are wrong: animals cannot use language. This fascinating book explains why. Can animals be taught a human language and use it to communicate? Or is human language unique to human beings, just as many complex behaviors of other species are uniquely theirs? This engrossing book explores communication and cognition in animals and humans from a linguistic point of view and asserts that animals are not capable of acquiring or using human language. Stephen R. Anderson explains what is meant by communication, the difference between communication and language, and the essential characteristics of language. Next he examines a variety of animal communication systems, including bee dances, frog vocalizations, bird songs, and alarm calls and other vocal, gestural, and olfactory communication among primates. Anderson then compares these to human language, including signed languages used by the deaf. Arguing that attempts to teach human languagesor their equivalents to the great apes have not succeeded in demonstrating linguistic abilities in nonhuman species, he concludes that animal communication systems--intriguing and varied though they may be--do not include all the essential properties of human language. Animals can communicate, but they can't talk. "Written in a playful and highly accessible style, Anderson's book navigates some of the difficult territory of linguistics to provide an illuminating discussion of the evolution of language."--Marc Hauser, author of "Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think.

Doctor Dolittle's Circus

Doctor Dolittle's Circus PDF Author: Hugh Lofting
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
The story begins with Doctor John Dolittle who is looking for some money to earn to pay off a voyage to Africa. The Doctor's idea is to get the Pushmi-Pullyu into the circus but he couldn't find one until Mathew Mugg suggest a small business circus owned by the ring master Blossum. The Doctor visits Blossum and persuades him to visit his house in Puddleby to discuss the payment and rules of the Pushmi-Pullyu before its performance in the circus. The Performance goes well after the Pushmi-Pullyu is put into the show and the doctor starts earning but he also discovers the animals who are in need of their cages cleaned which Blossum doesn't co-operate with when the doctor suggests some new ways to look after the animals. The doctor then meets Sophie the Alaskan seal, who is owned by Mr Higgins and she explains to him while crying that she misses her husband Slushy who is the alpha seal so the Doctor plans an escape for Sophie. When the night comes for the escape Doctor Dolittle waits in the street while Mathew and Jip get Sophie out of the circus but the guards shut the gate before the seal came make a break for it so Mathew and his wife Theodosia distract them by luring them to Sophie's tank and pushing them in. The whole circus goes into pandemonium when they see the disappearance of Mr Higgins's seal but Sophie manages to escape eventually while the Doctor becomes worried for waiting too long. When The Doctor and Sophie reach the outskirts of the town Sophie has an idea that if they follow the river they will get to the sea quicker so they consult the ducks who tell them to go to Talbot's Bridge which will lead them to Kippet River all the way to the Bristol Coast.

Hull Zero Three

Hull Zero Three PDF Author: Greg Bear
Publisher: Orbit
ISBN: 0316123021
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
A starship hurtles through the emptiness of space. Its destination - unknown. Its purpose - a mystery. Now, one man wakes up. Ripped from a dream of a new home - a new planet and the woman he was meant to love in his arms - he finds himself wet, naked, and freezing to death. The dark halls are full of monsters but trusting other survivors he meets might be the greater danger. All he has are questions -- Who is he? Where are they going? What happened to the dream of a new life? What happened to Hull 03? All will be answered, if he can survive the ship.

How Stella Learned to Talk

How Stella Learned to Talk PDF Author: Christina Hunger
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063046865
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An incredible, revolutionary true story and surprisingly simple guide to teaching your dog to talk from speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger, who has taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using simple paw-sized buttons associated with different words. When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy, Stella, it didn’t take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet. During the day, she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development and used Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to help them communicate. At night, she wondered: If dogs can understand words we say to them, shouldn’t they be able to say words to us? Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans? Christina decided to put her theory to the test with Stella and started using a paw-sized button programmed with her voice to say the word “outside” when clicked, whenever she took Stella out of the house. A few years later, Stella now has a bank of more than thirty word buttons, and uses them daily either individually or together to create near-complete sentences. How Stella Learned to Talk is part memoir and part how-to guide. It chronicles the journey Christina and Stella have taken together, from the day they met, to the day Stella “spoke” her first word, and the other breakthroughs they’ve had since. It also reveals the techniques Christina used to teach Stella, broken down into simple stages and actionable steps any dog owner can use to start communicating with their pets. Filled with conversations that Stella and Christina have had, as well as the attention to developmental detail that only a speech-language pathologist could know, How Stella Learned to Talk will be the indispensable dog book for the new decade.

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle PDF Author: Hugh Lofting
Publisher: Frederick A. Stokes
ISBN:
Category : Animals
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Doctor Dolittle heads for the high seas in perhaps the most amazing adventure ever experienced by man or animal. Told by nine-and-a-half-year-old Tommy Stubbins, crewman and future naturalist, the voyages of Doctor Dolittle and his company lead them to Spidermonkey Island. Along with his faithful friends, Polynesia the parrot and Chee-Chee the monkey, Doctor Dolittle survives a perilous shipwreck and lands on the mysterious floating island. There he meets the wondrous Great Glass See Snail who holds the key to the greatest mystery of all.

The Language of Animals

The Language of Animals PDF Author: Stephen Hart
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 1466881690
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Kanzi the chimp, Koko the ape, singing whales, trumpeting elephants, and dolphins trained for naval service--all of them make the news each year. Members of these species learn to communicate both with their voices and with body language, and without the signals they develop, each would be an island, unable to survive on Earth. How much do we know about how animals communicate with each other or with humans? Scientific American Focus: The Language of Animals examines the sometimes subtle differences between the nature of communication and what we call "language" or "intelligence." We explore how scientists study animal communication, and we learn about various species and their ways of "talking" and passing on their own "cultural" patterns. From dancing bees and chirping crickets to schooling fish and flocking birds; from birdsong to whale song to the language of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom--the chimpanzees--these overviews of thoroughly detailed case studies are a window to understanding the constant chatter and movement of the animal kingdom.

Beasts

Beasts PDF Author: Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1608199916
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Bestselling author Jeffrey Masson shows us what the animals at the top of the food chain-orca whales, big cats, etc.-can teach us about the origins of good and evil in ourselves. In his previous bestsellers, Masson has showed us that animals can teach us much about our own emotions-love (dogs), contentment (cats), and grief (elephants), among others. In Beasts, he demonstrates that the violence we perceive in the “wild” is a matter of projection. Animals predators kill to survive, but animal aggression is not even remotely equivalent to the violence of mankind. Humans are the most violent animals to our own kind in existence. We lack what all other animals have: a check on the aggression that would destroy the species rather than serve it. In Beasts, Masson brings to life the richness of the animal world and strips away our misconceptions of the creatures we fear, offering a powerful and compelling look at our uniquely human propensity toward aggression.

Mousy Cats and Sheepish Coyotes

Mousy Cats and Sheepish Coyotes PDF Author: John A. Shivik
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 080707151X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
A wildlife expert explores what science tells us about animals as unique individuals and why animal personality matters for the human-animal bond and for adaptation in nature. Why are some cats cuddly and others standoffish? Why are some dogs adventuresome, others homebodies? As any pet owner can attest, we feel that the animals we’ve formed bonds with are unique, as particular (and peculiar) as any human friend or loved one. Recent years have brought an increased understanding of animal intelligence and emotion. But is there a scientific basis for animal personality and individuality, or is this notion purely sentimental? It turns out that science has been reluctant to even broach the subject of individuality until recently. But now, a fundamental shift in scientific understanding is underway, as mainstream scientists begin to accept the idea that animals of all kinds—from beloved beasts like apes and birds to decidedly less cuddly creatures like crabs and spiders—do indeed have individual personalities. In Mousy Cats and Sheepish Coyotes, veteran wildlife expert Dr. John A. Shivik brings us stories from the front lines of this exciting new discipline. Drawing on his scientific training, as well as his storytelling gifts, Shivik serves as an accessible, humorous guide to the emerging body of research on animal personalities. Shivik accompanies researchers who are discovering that each wolf, bear, and coyote has an inherent tendency to favor either its aggressive nature or to shyly avoid conflicts. Some bluebirds are lovers, others are fighters. And some spiders prefer to be loners, while others are sociable. Unique personalities can be discovered in every corner of the animal kingdom—even among microscopic organisms. The array of personality types among all species is only beginning to be described and understood. As Shivik argues, animals’ unique personalities are important not only because they determine which animals we bond with. Individual animal traits are also fundamental but still inadequately understood drivers of evolution, adaptation, and species diversity. Ultimately, Mousy Cats and Sheepish Coyotes offers insight into the similarities humans share with animals and presents evidence of an unbroken biological connection from the smallest organisms to Homo sapiens.