Happy September, everyone! Another plane trip meant a lot of time for reading (and how I love my Kindle Voyage with its lit screen for reading at night and on airplanes).
What It's Like to Be a Dog and Other Adventures in Animal Neuroscience by Gregory Berns A couple of years ago, I read an article in the New York Times about a researcher who had trained dogs to lie completely still in an MRI machine so he could do functional MRI (fMRI) scans on their brains. Of course, I was fascinated and couldn't wait for more information to be published. This book relates how Dr. Berns and his associates taught a small coterie of dogs to lie still and accept the MRI tube, as well the tests and the results. He also discusses fMRI brain scans of other mammals that he's undertaken, notably several dolphin species and the extinct Tasmanian tiger (the thylacine). Absolutely fascinating, especially the section on the thylacine. But I'd have to disagree with the title--just because canine and human brains may process information apparently the same way in the same cranial anatomy doesn't mean that I know what a dog feels when it sees the same image that I do. All of this is very valuable science, and it underscores how arrogant humans have been for a long time, assuming they were the only sentient beings who could think and process information. But I still don't know what it's like to be one of my dogs and live their life and experience their world, much as I'd like to. Excellent, well written and very readable, even for non-scientists (there's not much jargon), with a tantalizing philosophical question at the end. I'd recommend it to dog lovers and anyone interested in science and nature. (NetGalley)
Catch Me if Yukon by Maddy Hunter The next in the Passport to Peril series, wherein Emily, her husband Etienne, and their merry band of senior globe trotters get embroiled in yet another murder mystery. In Catch Me if Yukon, the travelers are on a scenic trip to Alaska (not the Yukon, despite the title), and their number has been expanded by the addition of a book group. When one of their members dies under somewhat mysterious circumstances, the entire group is under suspicion. Matters are not helped when Emily's father posts a photo with an image that could be, might be, is interpreted as and voraciously shared around the Internet as--Bigfoot. The seniors' addiction to their smartphones was funny but may have been overplayed just a little. The group is always fun to visit with, and Hunter's style is light and breezy. A perfect airplane read. Recommended to cosy mystery lovers who enjoy funny mysteries. (Net Galley)
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