The Sounds of Life - by Karen Bakker

About the Book

"When we think of animal sound we tend to think about birds or other highly sonic animals. However, scientists are learning that a much wider range of animals, and even plants, use sound, and they are figuring this out with the help of AI and other digital technologies. This book tells the stories of scientists who are using these digital technologies to decode the hidden world of nonhuman sound. Bakker shows how digital technology, so often associated with our alienation from nature, is offering an opportunity to listen to plants and animals in powerful new ways, changing our understanding of nonhuman communication and reviving our connection to the natural world. Beautifully written and deeply researched, the book is a story of discovery. Early chapters describe early 20th-century discoveries about whale noise, while subsequent chapters describe how digital technologies have revealed the surprising sonic worlds of elephants, turtles, corals, and plants. Through these stories we learn that many more plants and animals can make and sense sound and that these sounds are linked to complex communication and social behavior. But, as we learn, this science is not merely about listening to nature in new ways; it also creates new possibilities for both conservation and interspecies communication. In the book's later chapters, Bakker describes fascinating breakthroughs -- aided by robotics and AI -- that may enable people to communicate with other species. She ends the book by exploring how conservationists are using bioacoustics to protect endangered species, address the threat of noise pollution, and create innovative responses to biodiversity loss and climate change. Throughout the book, Bakker describes the research of a diverse range of scientists, with a particular emphasis on female and indigenous scientists. And while she ultimately champions the potential of digital technology, she is not naive to its limitations and is careful throughout to highlight the limits of technology. Ultimately, we see that bioacoustics, aided by digital tech, offers humanity a powerful new window into the nonhuman world"--

Book Synopsis

An amazing journey into the hidden realm of nature's sounds

The natural world teems with remarkable conversations, many beyond human hearing range. Scientists are using groundbreaking digital technologies to uncover these astonishing sounds, revealing vibrant communication among our fellow creatures across the Tree of Life.

At once meditative and scientific, The Sounds of Life shares fascinating and surprising stories of nonhuman sound, interweaving insights from technological innovation and traditional knowledge. We meet scientists using sound to protect and regenerate endangered species from the Great Barrier Reef to the Arctic and the Amazon. We discover the shocking impacts of noise pollution on both animals and plants. We learn how artificial intelligence can decode nonhuman sounds, and meet the researchers building dictionaries in East African Elephant and Sperm Whalish. At the frontiers of innovation, we explore digitally mediated dialogues with bats and honeybees. Technology often distracts us from nature, but what if it could reconnect us instead?

The Sounds of Life offers hope for environmental conservation and affirms humanity's relationship with nature in the digital age. After learning about the unsuspected wonders of nature's sounds, we will never see walks outdoors in the same way again.

Review Quotes

"This book is recommended not only for researchers in bioacoustics, but also for students of animal behavior, ecology, nature conservation, and biology."-- "Conservation Biology"

"A meticulously researched work. . . .A fascinating and convincing account of acoustic awareness having become one of the core structural supports of almost all life."---Geoff Sample, Ibis

"Winner of the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books for Young Adults"

"Nature lovers will delight in [Bakker's] chronicle of the emerging technologies tuning us into a new world of non-human sound and conversation."-- "Globe & Mail"

"Winner of the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, BC and Yukon Book Prizes"

"This is an extraordinary book."---Christopher W. Clark, The Quarterly Review of Biology

"[I] couldn't put [The Sounds of Life] down. . . . [A] fascinating and forward-looking book."---Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today

"A fascinating account of a rapidly advancing understanding of the sonic world that binds life together on this planet."---Graeme Gourlay, Dive Magazine

"Bakker is talking about extension of our experience and our understanding and our sympathy in ways not possible before the advent of digital technology."---John Wilson, First Things

"Bakker's well-researched stories showcase the mysterious communication styles of whales, elephants, turtles, corals, plants, bats, and bees as told by the scientists who care enough to listen. . . . These scientific breakthroughs couldn't come at a better time."---Krystal Vasquez, Sierra

"Impeccably written, soundly researched, and utterly fascinating. . . . Between and around the book's hard science, the author wraps accessible and warmly told human narratives such as the tale of the dying man who on his last sea trip first realized whales communicated with each other. Thus, The Sounds of Life is filled with a certain kind of wild, brilliant charm that makes it very readable for the scientific and the nonscientific minded alike."-- "Compulsive Reader"

"In this beautifully written study, Karen Bakker, a tech entrepreneur and academic, compares digital technology that can reveal these sounds with the microscope's effect on vision. By extending our hearing, the technology allows us to encounter 'new soundscapes around the world and across the Tree of Life.'"---Andrew Robinson, Nature

"Meticulously researched and colorfully presented . . . the first [book] to integrate so many dimensions of the field in a way that is accessible to nonexperts. It is a wonderful mix of animal ecology, narratives of science-doing, futurism, and accounts of Indigenous knowledge that is as interdisciplinary as the field itself."---Benjamin Gottesman, Science

"This is a fascinating and surprising look at how the natural world teems with remarkable conversations, many beyond human hearing range. . . . A great read."---Lorraine Connolly, The Countryman

"Winner of the Nautilus Book Award, Animals & Nature Section"

"Winner of the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award, Northland College"

"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Popular Science and Mathematics, Association of American Publishers"

"The Sounds of Life is a charming and timely book, packed with stories of remarkable, eye-opening (and ear-opening?) discoveries."---Hilary Lamb, Engineering and Technology

"Bakker ladles academic research liberally onto the reader in short, spare sentences that build up to a comprehensive whole. Her deep knowledge is worn lightly throughout the book, so that you never feel overwhelmed."---Chris Stokel-Walker, New Scientist

"Bakker's book is full of stories of wonder and curiosity about the world of sound that constantly surrounds humanity."-- "Mongabay"

About the Author

Karen Bakker (1971-2023) was a professor at the University of British Columbia and earned her PhD from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. She received numerous awards throughout her career, including an Annenberg Fellowship (Stanford University), a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Radcliffe Fellowship (Harvard University).