Rakuten Kobo

Skip side bar filters

Kingdom of Play

What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself

by David Toomey ...

This “delightful…compelling” (Scientific American) and revelatory look at the science behind why animals play “will fill you with joy and wonder” (Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus).Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in ... Read more

$13.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

This “delightful…compelling” (Scientific American) and revelatory look at the science behind why animals play “will fill you with joy and wonder” (Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus).Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Weird Life

The Search for Life That Is Very, Very Different from Our Own

by David Toomey ...

“Weird indeed, and not a little wonderful.”—NatureIn the 1980s and 1990s, in places where no one thought it possible, scientists found organisms they called extremophiles: lovers of extremes. There were bacteria in volcanic hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, single-celled algae in Antarctic ice floes, and fungi in the cooling pools of nuclear reactors.But might there be life stranger than the ... Read more

$11.69 USD

“Weird indeed, and not a little wonderful.”—NatureIn the 1980s and 1990s, in places where no one thought it possible, scientists found organisms they called extremophiles: lovers of extremes. There were bacteria in volcanic hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, single-celled algae in Antarctic ice floes, and fungi in the cooling pools of nuclear reactors.But might there be life stranger than the
... Read more
Stormchasers

The Hurricane Hunters and Their Fateful Flight into Hurricane Janet

by David Toomey ...

Fifty years after Isaac's Storm, a riveting story of the first Hurricane Hunters, and the one crew who paid the ultimate price."In a virtual age when tempests are monitored by global positioning and The Weather Channel, Stormchasers reminds us that our first understanding of hurricanes was directly built on the risks and sacrifices of living, breathing heroes," writes Hampton Sides (author of ... Read more

$14.39 USD

Fifty years after Isaac's Storm, a riveting story of the first Hurricane Hunters, and the one crew who paid the ultimate price."In a virtual age when tempests are monitored by global positioning and The Weather Channel, Stormchasers reminds us that our first understanding of hurricanes was directly built on the risks and sacrifices of living, breathing heroes," writes Hampton Sides (author of
... Read more
The New Time Travelers

A Journey to the Frontiers of Physics

by David Toomey ...

The story of physicists' quest to answer a mind-boggling question: How can we travel through time?Since H. G. Wells' 1895 classic The Time Machine, readers of science fiction have puzzled over the paradoxes of time travel. What would happen if a time traveler tried to change history? Would some force or law of nature prevent him? Or would his action produce a "new" history, branching away from the ... Read more

$17.79 USD

The story of physicists' quest to answer a mind-boggling question: How can we travel through time?Since H. G. Wells' 1895 classic The Time Machine, readers of science fiction have puzzled over the paradoxes of time travel. What would happen if a time traveler tried to change history? Would some force or law of nature prevent him? Or would his action produce a "new" history, branching away from the
... Read more
Audiobook

Kingdom of Play

What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself

by David Toomey ...

Narrated by Jacques Roy ...

Unabridged

6 hours 59 min

This “delightful…compelling” (Scientific American) and revelatory look at the science behind why animals play “will fill you with joy and wonder” (Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus).Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in ... Read more

$19.99 USD

Also available as: eBook

This “delightful…compelling” (Scientific American) and revelatory look at the science behind why animals play “will fill you with joy and wonder” (Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus).Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in
... Read more

Also available as: eBook

The Birth of the West

Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century

by Paul Collins ...

The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. Charlemagne's empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages. Yet according to historian Paul Collins, the story of the tenth century is the story of our ... Read more

$12.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. Charlemagne's empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages. Yet according to historian Paul Collins, the story of the tenth century is the story of our
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Other Minds

The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

by Peter Godfrey-Smith ...

Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith dons a wet suit and journeys into the depths of consciousness in Other MindsAlthough mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has also sprouted higher intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. In ... Read more

$12.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith dons a wet suit and journeys into the depths of consciousness in Other MindsAlthough mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has also sprouted higher intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. In
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
The Genius of Birds

by Jennifer Ackerman ...

**“Lovely, celebratory. For all the belittling of ‘bird brains,’ [Ackerman] shows them to be uniquely impressive machines . . .” —New York Times Book Review“A lyrical testimony to the wonders of avian intelligence.” —Scientific AmericanAn award-winning science writer tours the globe to reveal what makes birds capable of such extraordinary feats of mental prowess**Birds are astonishingly ... Read more

$9.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

**“Lovely, celebratory. For all the belittling of ‘bird brains,’ [Ackerman] shows them to be uniquely impressive machines . . .” —New York Times Book Review“A lyrical testimony to the wonders of avian intelligence.” —Scientific AmericanAn award-winning science writer tours the globe to reveal what makes birds capable of such extraordinary feats of mental prowess**Birds are astonishingly
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Inside Animal Hearts and Minds

Bears That Count, Goats That Surf, and Other True Stories of Animal Intelligence and Emotion

by Belinda Recio ...

As Charles Darwin suggested more than a century ago, the differences between animals and humans are of degree and not of kind.” Not long ago, ethologists denied that animals had emotions or true intelligence. Now, we know that rats laugh when tickled, magpies mourn as they cover the departed with greenery, female whales travel thousands of miles for annual reunions with their gal pals, seals ... Read more

$16.99 USD

As Charles Darwin suggested more than a century ago, the differences between animals and humans are of degree and not of kind.” Not long ago, ethologists denied that animals had emotions or true intelligence. Now, we know that rats laugh when tickled, magpies mourn as they cover the departed with greenery, female whales travel thousands of miles for annual reunions with their gal pals, seals
... Read more
If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal

What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity

by Justin Gregg ...

This funny, "extraordinary and thought-provoking" (The Wall Street Journal) book asks whether we are in fact the superior species. As it turns out, the truth is stranger—and far more interesting—than we have been led to believe.If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal overturns everything we thought we knew about human intelligence, and asks the question: would humans be better off as narwhals? Or some other, ... Read more

$11.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

This funny, "extraordinary and thought-provoking" (The Wall Street Journal) book asks whether we are in fact the superior species. As it turns out, the truth is stranger—and far more interesting—than we have been led to believe.If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal overturns everything we thought we knew about human intelligence, and asks the question: would humans be better off as narwhals? Or some other,
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
The Evolution of Beauty

How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World - and Us

by Richard O. Prum ...

**A FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZENAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, SMITHSONIAN, AND WALL STREET JOURNALA major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences—what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"—create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world.**In the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwin's theory ... Read more

$11.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

**A FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZENAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, SMITHSONIAN, AND WALL STREET JOURNALA major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences—what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"—create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world.**In the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwin's theory
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

by Frans de Waal ...

A New York Times bestseller: "A passionate and convincing case for the sophistication of nonhuman minds." —Alison Gopnik, The AtlanticHailed as a classic, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? explores the oddities and complexities of animal cognition—in crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, chimpanzees, and bonobos—to reveal how smart animals really are, and how we’ve ... Read more

$12.39 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

A New York Times bestseller: "A passionate and convincing case for the sophistication of nonhuman minds." —Alison Gopnik, The AtlanticHailed as a classic, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? explores the oddities and complexities of animal cognition—in crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, chimpanzees, and bonobos—to reveal how smart animals really are, and how we’ve
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook

Rakuten Kobo

eReaders

Apps

Accessories

What is Kobo Super Points?

Reward Yourself

Shopping Cart

You're getting the VIP treatment!

Your Shopping Cart is empty

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Recommended For You

“david toomey”

Kingdom of Play

Weird Life

Stormchasers

The New Time Travelers

Kingdom of Play

People who read these also enjoyed

The Birth of the West

Other Minds

The Genius of Birds

Inside Animal Hearts and Minds

If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal

The Evolution of Beauty

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

eReaders

Apps

Accessories

Shopping Cart

You're getting the VIP treatment!

Your Shopping Cart is empty

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Recommended For You

“david toomey”

Show:

People who read these also enjoyed