Here is a good gift for a 7 -100 year old dog lover.
Author Marty Crisp who specializes dog fiction and non-fiction for kids answers the questions she Here is a good gift for a 7 -100 year old dog lover.
Author Marty Crisp who specializes dog fiction and non-fiction for kids answers the questions she most often hears from her visits to schools.
There are answers to questions about toes, tails, ears and smell. What does a dog remember? What's the problem with chocolate? Do dogs cry? Why do some like to ride in cars while others do not etc.
This book covers different approaches and findings in recent animal brain research. Those who buy this book to learn about dogs will be disappointed. This book covers different approaches and findings in recent animal brain research. Those who buy this book to learn about dogs will be disappointed.
A lot of space, for the size of the book, is devoted to brain evolution (I learned that jellyfish have neural nets that serve as brains); how sea lions can be trained to dance and the history of and search for the thylacine. The author writes well for the lay audience. He keeps the technical jargon down and uses easy to grasp analogies.
The experiments had long anecdotal introductions. For some the results are generally unsatisfying (no fault of the author) but the process and possibilities are provocative. For some, more clarity is needed. For instance:
-how did they know the dog recognized a non-object noun vocabulary word? -or how did they know the dogs understood the facial expressions? - did the author actually use the MRI he built in his home; the photos don’t look like the homemade MRI he described or that they were taken in a residence. -Is building an MRI a viable project for the general public?
(In this section I learned that the MRI banging comes from the body and not the equipment. Is this generally known?)
There are photos of several brains and a discussion of what they can tell about the animal.
I liked the chapter at the end that summarizes the legal, ethical and community issues of animal research, not just for medical advances but for pure science.
I picked this up because I wanted to know what it is like to be a dog; but that will have to wait. Presuming this is the state of what is known (and the author seems to be on top of it) research has a long way to go....more
This book shows how each generation of Rin Tin Tin had a public role that was relevant for its time. In the Hollywood silent film era he starred underThis book shows how each generation of Rin Tin Tin had a public role that was relevant for its time. In the Hollywood silent film era he starred under his own name. World War II, he led in the Dogs for Defense recruitment effort. In the dawn of TV era, he helped develop the TV drama.
There are lots of colorful people in this story. Lee Duncan through luck, pluck and total devotion, took Rin Tin Tin (and his mother and still nursing him and his siblings) from a battlefield of World War I and made him an international star. Herbert B. Leonard (Bert), the director of the TV series (as well as "Naked City" and "Route 66") may be the most intriguing and the second most devoted to Rin Tin Tin. After the series was cancelled he spent a small fortune to preserve the Rin Tin Tin image and keep his story in the public eye.
Jannettia Propps Brodsgaad and her daughter Daphne are BIG fans and as eccentric as people come. There is the strange Paul Klein who appears as Lee Aaker (the child star of the TV series). There is an incredible happenstance involving the real Aaker that eventually brought Daphne and Bert together in the courtroom.
I appreciated the author's personal comments of how she felt at various times in her research, for instance at the birth and burial sites of Rin Tin Tin, of meeting people who knew Lee Duncan, of finding documents and memorabilia.
From the text it seems that there are many photos to be had, but there are very few in the book. The ones included could use some labels. For instance, the one on p. 100, which I presume is Lee Duncan (is it?) but which Rin Tin Tin? What year? Also, there is no index.
This is a very pleasant and informative read.
I came to this book, not as a fan (I saw TV program only a few times) but through the NY Times Best 100 Books of 2011. I see how this made the list....more
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