Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior

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Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior By Temple Grandin
Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc 2005-01-01 | ISBN: 1400101468 | Language English | Audio CD in MP3 | 169 MB

Summary: Remarkable Insights and Inspiration
Rating: 5

Temple Grandin was profiled in a BBC Horizon documentary a year or two
back as `the woman who thinks like a cow'. A somewhat uncomplimentary
portrayal you might think, until you appreciate that Grandin is a
gifted professor of animal science and champion for autism, and that
cows are far more interesting creatures than might often be assumed.

Grandin discovered that her way of viewing the world corresponded very
closely to the perceptions of many animals. As a trouble-shooter on
farms and ranches across the USA, she found that she could very often
just `see' the problems which were scaring cattle and bringing their
owners to the brink of despair. Combined with her prolific research and
writings, autism has been a rare gift, enabling her remarkable work.

As a novice in the field of animal science, I felt fascinated and
challenged by the wide mix of ideas this book presents. Topics as
diverse as why pigs enjoy snuggling up to each other and genetic
aggression are introduced in easy, layman's terms, giving interesting
details about the research but also recognising that scientists don't
yet have all the answers. Grandin challenges us to question a lot of
what we might believe about animal behaviour - and for that matter
autism - and does so with humility and humour.

A wealth of down-to-earth anecdotes ground the research and open
questions posed. For example, we learn about a friend's cat who knew
when `mother' was entering the lift of their apartment block some 12
floors below and of the prairie dogs of Arizona who've not only evolved
a language involving nouns, verbs and adjectives, but even different
dialects amongst local colonies!

At the same time, familiar stories are looked at a new light. For
example, the story of the German `counting' horse Clever Hans is looked
at not as a disappointing scam (it was revealed that Hans couldn't
really count), but remarkable for the fact that a horse had taught
himself to tune into subtle human cues in the first place. This is just
one example of what is often unseen `animal genius'.

Grandin appeals for humane treatment of all animals, which she argues
must come through a new understanding of how they interact with their
world and how we deal with our husbandry of them.

The joint writing with Catherine Johnson works well, coming across as a
conversation between friends (including the reader). But what is
remarkable is that Grandin and Johnson manage to present deep insights
into both autism and animal communication, as well as linking the two
together. Rarely does a book inspire us to think both about the animals
around us and our fellow human beings in a new way.

This is a truly wonderful book, and one which I have found myself constantly wanting to recommend to others.


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