Where We Meet the World: The Story of the Senses

By Ashley Ward and Ashley Ward

Book Overview

The thrilling story of how our senses evolved and how they shape our encounters with the world Our senses are what make life worth living. They allow us to appreciate a sip of an ice-cold drink, the sound of laughter, the touch of a lover. But only recently have incredible advances in sensory biology given us the ability to understand how and why our senses evolved as they have. In Where We Meet the World , biologist Ashley Ward takes readers on a breathtaking tour of how our senses function. Ward looks at not only the five major senses--vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch--but also a host of other senses, such as balance and interoception, the sense of the body's internal state. Drawing on new research, he explores how our senses interact with and regulate each other, and he uncovers what we can learn from how other animals--and even bacteria--encounter the world. Full of warmth and humor, Where We Meet the World shows how new insights in biology transform our understanding of the relationship between ourselves and our environment, revealing the vibrancy--and strangeness--of both.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1541600851
• ISBN13: 9781541600850
• Release Date: March 2023
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Fun!

I've just started this book but know I will be reading more by this author. One of his first descriptions is of a dung dwelling fungus that sends its spores away to prosper. It was wonderfully metaphorical. Don't all good parents aspire to send their progeny far from their own dung hill of existence? I love an author who can make me laugh about biology.