Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep - by David Stipp (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This engaging tour through evolution's mysteries is backyard biophilia at its most entertaining and enlightening

Why do cats live longer than dogs? Why do so many different kinds of bees have yellow stripes? Why can we smell a skunk a mile away, much farther than we can detect the strongest perfume? Such questions offer puzzles about creatures' evolved traits. Besides inviting us into joys of curiosity, they focus our attention on beguiling designs that have been millions of years in the making.

In this lively, lucid book, science writer David Stipp brings a Darwinian lens to bear on evolutionary curiosities including house sparrows' ubiquity, caffeine as the perfect poison, cannibalism among bumblebees, and the defenselessness of sleep--among many others. By revealing the hidden depths of the ordinary, Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep demonstrates that countless fascinating conundrums exist all around us, and that taking note of them is the very best way to connect to the natural world.

Review Quotes

"Stipp's curiosity is contagious. He makes the mundane magical and encourages us to do the same. Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep will ensure that you never look at a sparrow, a skunk, or a worm in the same way again."--Steven N. Austad, University of Alabama distinguished professor of biology and author of Methuselah's Zoo and Why We Age

"A lovely romp through Darwinian evolutionary puzzles, ranging on topics from earthworm intelligence to a novel take on the origin of dogs. Entertaining, witty, AND educational!"--Irene M. Pepperberg, Research Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, and author of the New York Times bestseller Alex and Me

About the Author

David Stipp was a science writer for the national media for over thirty years, as a staff reporter at the Wall Street Journal and as a senior writer at Fortune, and then as a freelancer for Scientific American, the New York Times, and other publications. He is the author of two previous books, The Youth Pill and, most recently, A Most Elegant Equation.