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Animal Architects

Building and the Evolution of Intelligence

Animal Architects Open the full-size image

Contributors

By James L. Gould

By Carol Grant Gould

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Mar 6, 2012
Page Count
336 pages
Publisher
Basic Books
ISBN-13
9780465028382

Price

$21.99

Price

$28.99 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. Trade Paperback $21.99 $28.99 CAD
  2. ebook $12.99 $16.99 CAD

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Animal behavior has long been a battleground between the competing claims of nature and nurture, with the possible role of cognition in behavior as a recent addition to this debate. There is an untapped trove of behavioral data that can tell us a great deal about how the animals draw from these neural strategies: The structures animals build provide a superb window on the workings of the animal mind. Animal Architects examines animal architecture across a range of species, from those whose blueprints are largely innate (such as spiders and their webs) to those whose challenging structures seem to require intellectual insight, planning, and even aesthetics (such as bowerbirds’ nests, or beavers’ dams). Beginning with instinct and the simple homes of solitary insects, James and Carol Gould move on to conditioning; the “cognitive map” and how it evolved; and the role of planning and insight. Finally, they reflect on what animal building tells us about the nature of human intelligence-showing why humans, unlike many animals, need to build castles in the air.

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James L. Gould

About the Author

James L. Gould is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University and one of the world’s leading experts in animal behavior. With science writer Carol Grant Gould he has written The Animal Mind, Sexual Selection, and The Honey Bee, all considered classic books on animal behavior for lay audiences. They live in Princeton, New Jersey.

Science writer Carol Grant Gould and James L. Gould have written The Animal Mind, Sexual Selection, and The Honey Bee, all considered classic books on animal behavior for lay audiences. They live in Princeton, New Jersey.

Learn more about this author

Carol Grant Gould

About the Author

Learn more about this author