An Immense World

How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

De: Ed Yong

Narrado por: Ed Yong

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “thrilling” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong

“One of this year’s finest works of narrative nonfiction.”—Oprah Daily

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time, People, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Slate, Reader’s Digest, Chicago Public Library, Outside, Publishers Weekly, BookPage

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Economist, Smithsonian Magazine, Prospect (UK), Globe & Mail, Esquire, Mental Floss, Marginalian, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal

The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world.

In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved.

Funny, rigorous, and suffused with the joy of discovery, An Immense World takes us on what Marcel Proust called “the only true voyage . . . not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes.”

WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL • FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON AWARD

©2022 Ed Yong (P)2022 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

2023, Royal Society Prize for Science Books: Short-listed

“A dazzling ride through the sensory world of astoundingly sophisticated creatures . . . It’s Mr. Yong’s task to expand our thinking, to rouse our sense of wonder, to help us feel humbled and exalted at the capabilities of our fellow inhabitants on Earth. . . . [A] deeply affectionate travelogue of animal sensory wonders.”—The Wall Street Journal

“One of this year’s finest works of narrative nonfiction . . . Yong’s reporting is layered, seasoned with vivid scenes from laboratories and in the field, interviews with researchers across a spectrum of disciplines.”—Oprah Daily

“A thrilling tour of nonhuman perception . . . Nature’s true wonders aren’t limited to a remote wilderness or other sublime landscape. . . . There is as much grandeur in the soil of a backyard garden as there is in the canyons of Zion.”—The New York Times

Nature, we know not yet

This book reveals an otherwise undetectable natural world. It reveals the triumphs of discovery from years of scientific labors. It showcases a whole new purpose for technology. For most readers there will be nature before this book and then after. Realizing how diverse the sensory world is beyond our understanding is arguably many times more revealing of our place in the world than the glances back at the small blue orb from the moon in the 1960’s. A naturalist or nature enthusiast who is unaware of the contents of this text is arguably ignorant of many ways that Nature works. In fact, any higher education institution that graduates students in the fields of ecology, biology, environmental science and related fields will soon be degraded if the information in this book is not included in their degree programs by the graduation year 2024. The writing is accessible for a broad audience. Please proceed with translation of this book in as many languages as possible.

There’s very few books I read more than once..

This is simply some of the best science writing by one of the best science writers alive. There’s not enough time to read all the books ever written; though some books are worth reading multiple times at the expense of the others and this one of them.

An amazing book about senses

An amazing book of Ed Yong “An Immense World”. It surveyed the biology and physics of senses which empower animals to navigate the world, by sensing light, sounds, chemicals, mechanical vibrations, temperature, and even electric and magnetic field. Humans exceed some of the senses of some of the species. But for the most part different species left humans behind their ability to sense beyond the range of human senses. Many animals have much wider range of sound frequencies. Wales can communicate through 10,000 miles using very low frequency of sound, which we cannot sense. Mouse can produce and sense ultrasound way above our limited range. Chemical sensing is much more acute and rich in most mammals compared to humans. Perhaps we are doing better than many, but not all, species in vision. But some species have extra sensors expanding their color vision by orders of magnitude as compared our three receptors. And humans completely or almost completely lack senses of vibration, electric or magnetic fields, which readily senses by insects, birds, or bats.

Humans lack important sensory abilities which makes our world, our technology and our art limited. Perhaps we should think about correcting this biological injustice and develop those missing abilities in the future.

Book is well researched and written masterfully. Audible format gives another treat: the author is a great narrator of his own text.

One place to improve - history of research on this subject should have started from early work on electric fish by Alexander von Humboldt, or even earlier - 1600s and 1700s studies of Dutch, Italian and French researchers. These studies of senses were critical steps towards modern science - biology, physics and chemistry.

A Call to Attention

Ed draws you into the world of other species interweaving highly important revelations about them and tying them to each other and humans seamlessly and effortlessly.

Informative and fascinating

I was overwhelmed by all the information, but I can always listen a few more times.

Science and story, beautifully read!

Ed Yong brings together science and storytelling in a way that’s illuminating, educational, and accessible. He provides just enough description of sensory structures and chemistry to help the reader to visualize the mechanism behind the animals’ perceptions, without so much that reading or listening to this book would be daunting. His writing has an air of storytelling about it that invites the reader in.

Yong’s narration of the audiobook adds another layer of enjoyment for me. Unlike some authors who are so in love with the words they’ve chosen that their own narration can be overwhelmingly precious, Yong simply lends his voice to the story he has to tell.

Finally, although the book would be fabulous without this, I do appreciate an author on a scientific subject who can quote the “Insane Clown Posse“ to good effect!

Fabulously written

Mr. Yong delves into subjects that are worth exploring. The myriad of ways that life on the planet senses the world is fascinating. The book ends with stark images but with hope. It is clearly not for everyone but, if you have a curious mind, consider it. You can listen to his interview on Fresh Air first before listening to his book.

Open your world view

Highly accessible, thoroughly enjoyable account of sensory and possible sense-making in other species. Recommended for curious ppl.

Critical reading in preserving the planet

What a fantastic world that so few endeavor to understand. This is essential information necessary to save the planet from being overrun by selfish human (dis)interests. This book incites us to open our curiousity to scientific exploration into a realm often not considered. It challenges us to consider our impact on our rapidly changing planet.

Wonder

Thank you for such an enlightening book. Praying for our curiosities and imaginations to come to the fore and help carry out some of the simple solutions Mr. Yong refers to in this wonderful book.