Best Seller
The Brilliance of Dolphins
Hardcover
$33.00
Available on Jul 13, 2027 | 256 Pages
From an MIT-trained cognitive scientist and dolphin researcher comes a surprising and exuberant exploration of the minds of dolphins
The dolphin is widely regarded as a profoundly intelligent animal, at once playful, wily, and ingenious. Trained dolphins perform extraordinary physical feats to the delight of crowds around the world, and long observation in the wild—of their curiosity, their social organization, and their “conversations” with one another—proves there’s more than meets the eye. But what actually goes on in the minds of these creatures? And how would you ever know?
For nearly thirty years, Kelly Jaakkola, an MIT-trained cognitive scientist, has been trying to find out. At the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys, Jaakkola designs experiments that probe the depths of their minds and help determine what sorts of faculties they actually possess. Among many other questions, Jaakkola investigates whether dolphins are capable of language, understand numbers, or have a sense of self. But she also plumbs a deeper question: what does it mean to be intelligent at all? And how can you prove intelligence? Famously playful but also stubborn, dolphins do not make for the easiest of test subjects, and fathoming the innerworkings of their minds involves devising inventive experiments—which often result in unexpected and delightful insights.
What this research gives us is not only a fascinating look into the mind of another brilliantly intelligent animal, answering our questions about their incredible communication, coordination, and problem-solving skills, but also a deeper, more satisfying understanding of these creatures on their own terms—not as foils of human intelligence, but as inhabitants of worlds richer and more magical than we would ordinarily imagine. The Brilliance of Dolphins is a charming exploration of dolphin intelligence that reveals them in all their glory: clever, social, stubborn, and always full of surprise.
The dolphin is widely regarded as a profoundly intelligent animal, at once playful, wily, and ingenious. Trained dolphins perform extraordinary physical feats to the delight of crowds around the world, and long observation in the wild—of their curiosity, their social organization, and their “conversations” with one another—proves there’s more than meets the eye. But what actually goes on in the minds of these creatures? And how would you ever know?
For nearly thirty years, Kelly Jaakkola, an MIT-trained cognitive scientist, has been trying to find out. At the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys, Jaakkola designs experiments that probe the depths of their minds and help determine what sorts of faculties they actually possess. Among many other questions, Jaakkola investigates whether dolphins are capable of language, understand numbers, or have a sense of self. But she also plumbs a deeper question: what does it mean to be intelligent at all? And how can you prove intelligence? Famously playful but also stubborn, dolphins do not make for the easiest of test subjects, and fathoming the innerworkings of their minds involves devising inventive experiments—which often result in unexpected and delightful insights.
What this research gives us is not only a fascinating look into the mind of another brilliantly intelligent animal, answering our questions about their incredible communication, coordination, and problem-solving skills, but also a deeper, more satisfying understanding of these creatures on their own terms—not as foils of human intelligence, but as inhabitants of worlds richer and more magical than we would ordinarily imagine. The Brilliance of Dolphins is a charming exploration of dolphin intelligence that reveals them in all their glory: clever, social, stubborn, and always full of surprise.
Author
Kelly Jaakkola
Kelly Jaakkola is a cognitive psychologist, marine mammal scientist, and Director of Research for the Dolphin Research Center. She earned her Master’s degree in Psychology from Emory University, where she began her career studying cognition in chimpanzees and human children and received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from MIT. Dr. Jaakkola’s research has been published in numerous international scientific journals and book chapters, and her work on dolphin cognition has received worldwide coverage in newspapers, magazine articles, books, and television. She has taught courses on human and animal cognition at several colleges, and chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums.
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