The Book of Animal Secrets
Nature's Lessons for a Long and Happy Life
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The End of Illness comes an ingenious guide to what our fellow animals can teach us about living longer, healthier, happier lives.
Mother nature has a lot to teach us, if only we open our eyes. Pigeons and dolphins offer creative strategies for preserving our memories and warding off dementia, while squirrels and pigs harbor secrets for managing chronic pain. Rhinoceroses demonstrate the subtle power of our environments—and how to exercise better—while chimps have surprising parenting tips, not to mention great diet advice. Studying elephants has unlocked insights into preventing cancer, and we can look to giraffes for solutions to cardiovascular issues. Ants reveal the unusual benefits of collaboration and altruism, dogs are masterful mentors in living the good life, prairie voles hold clues to connection, and hitchhikers from our evolutionary past may bring us to the edge of immortality.
In The Book of Animal Secrets, visionary physician and biomedical researcher David B. Agus, MD, explores all these ways—and more—that we can harness the wonders of the animal kingdom in our own, very human lives. Filled with lively storytelling and astonishing practical takeaways, this revelatory guide will have you rethinking what’s possible for your health and wellbeing—now and for years to come.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this fun volume, Agus (The Lucky Years) suggests humans can lead "longer, healthier, and happier" lives by taking cues from the animal kingdom. Opining on what lessons octopuses can teach about intelligence, pigs about positivity, giraffes about heart health, and more, Agus recounts seeing lions while on safari in Africa and surmising that they "fear death every day in their own way" but largely don't "ponder their own mortality the way we do," leading the author to emphasize the importance of managing chronic stress. Agus outlines the "survival of the friendliest" theory, which posits that in the early days of canine domestication, affable dogs likely received more care from humans and so were the most evolutionarily successful. He suggests readers might benefit in their own way from being "prosocial, cooperative, and friendly." In a standout chapter, Agus discusses research showing that pigeons are better than humans at solving the Monty Hall dilemma (a probability game) because it's easier to arrive at the right answer by trial and error than by logic, illustrating that "sometimes it pays not to overthink things too much." Though the life lessons are largely standard fare, the animal trivia entertains. This will enrich readers' "appreciation for the nonhuman world around us."
Customer Reviews
Be Healthy. Live Longer.
Dr. Agus shares interesting bits of information related to maintaining a healthy body and mind. The reader is also given information and clues from nature which could promote longevity. At times, this reader was overwhelmed by the medical and technical jargon, but it was worth persevering through foreign terms in order to gains insight into this interesting research.