Take a dazzling odyssey into the inner world of animals -- from ants and elephants to wolves and sharp-shooting archerfish -- with Virginia Morell, author of “Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures” on Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m., at Barrett Bookstore, 314 Heights Road, Darien.
With 30 years of experience covering the sciences, Morell uses her formidable gifts as a story-teller to transport us to field sites and laboratories around the world, introducing us to pioneering animal-cognition researchers and their surprisingly intelligent and sensitive subjects. She explores how this rapidly evolving, controversial field has only recently overturned old notions about why animals behave as they do. She probes the moral and ethical dilemmas of recognizing that even “lesser animals” have cognitive abilities such as memory, feelings, personality, and self-awareness--traits that many in the twentieth century felt were unique to human beings.
Join us for an evening of wine, cheese and book talk. There is no charge, but kindly sign up at the register or rsvp to 203-655-2712 or email barrettbooks@sbcglobal.net.
