AUDIOBOOK
Kingdom of Play
What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life It
David Toomey(0)
About
This revelatory look at the science behind why animals play.
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 the Kalahari Desert to brown bears on Alaska's Aleutian Islands, we follow adventurous researchers as they design and conduct experiments seeking answers to new, intriguing questions: When did play first appear in animals? How does play develop the brain, and how did it evolve? Are the songs and aerial acrobatics of birds the beginning of avian culture? Is fairness in dog play the foundation of canine ethics? And does play direct and possibly accelerate evolution?
Monkeys belly flop, dolphins tail-walk, elephants mud-slide, crows dive-bomb, and octopuses bounce balls. These activities are various, but all are play, and as Toomey explains, animal play can be defined as a distinct behavior that is ongoing and open-ended, purposeless and provisional-rather like natural selection. Through a close examination of both natural selection and play, Toomey argues that life itself is fundamentally playful.
“Kingdom of Play” is an illuminating, and yes, playful-look at a little-known aspect of the animal kingdom.
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 the Kalahari Desert to brown bears on Alaska's Aleutian Islands, we follow adventurous researchers as they design and conduct experiments seeking answers to new, intriguing questions: When did play first appear in animals? How does play develop the brain, and how did it evolve? Are the songs and aerial acrobatics of birds the beginning of avian culture? Is fairness in dog play the foundation of canine ethics? And does play direct and possibly accelerate evolution?
Monkeys belly flop, dolphins tail-walk, elephants mud-slide, crows dive-bomb, and octopuses bounce balls. These activities are various, but all are play, and as Toomey explains, animal play can be defined as a distinct behavior that is ongoing and open-ended, purposeless and provisional-rather like natural selection. Through a close examination of both natural selection and play, Toomey argues that life itself is fundamentally playful.
“Kingdom of Play” is an illuminating, and yes, playful-look at a little-known aspect of the animal kingdom.
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Reviews
Jacques Roy's warm, even performance makes for an inviting listen. We may think we know when an animal is in play mode, but how do we understand the deeper mysteries of animal behavior? Listeners will appreciate this audiobook's deep dive into thoughtful research on concepts we may assume we understand. What, exactly, is animal play? What constitutes fun for a monkey or a seal? And how did dogs co
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