Audiobook7 hours
Kingdom of Play: What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself
Written by David Toomey
Narrated by Jacques Roy
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
For readers of Inside of a Dog and The Soul of an Octopus, a fascinating, charming, and revelatory look at the science behind why animals play that shows how life—at its most fundamental level—is playful.
In Kingdom of Play, critically acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in the Kalahari Desert to brown bears on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, we follow adventurous researchers as they design and conduct experiments seeking answers to new, intriguing questions: When did play first appear in animals? How does play develop the brain, and how did it evolve? Are the songs and aerial acrobatics of birds the beginning of avian culture? Is fairness in dog play the foundation of canine ethics? And does play direct and possibly accelerate evolution?
Monkeys belly-flop, dolphins tail-walk, elephants mud-slide, crows dive-bomb, and octopuses bounce balls. These activities are various, but all are play, and as Toomey explains, animal play can be seen as a distinct behavior—one that is ongoing and open-ended, purposeless and provisional—rather like natural selection. Through a close examination of both natural selection and play, Toomey argues that life itself is fundamentally playful.
A globe-spanning journey and a scientific detective story filled with lively animal anecdotes, Kingdom of Play is an illuminating—and yes, playful—look at a little-known aspect of the animal kingdom.
In Kingdom of Play, critically acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in the Kalahari Desert to brown bears on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, we follow adventurous researchers as they design and conduct experiments seeking answers to new, intriguing questions: When did play first appear in animals? How does play develop the brain, and how did it evolve? Are the songs and aerial acrobatics of birds the beginning of avian culture? Is fairness in dog play the foundation of canine ethics? And does play direct and possibly accelerate evolution?
Monkeys belly-flop, dolphins tail-walk, elephants mud-slide, crows dive-bomb, and octopuses bounce balls. These activities are various, but all are play, and as Toomey explains, animal play can be seen as a distinct behavior—one that is ongoing and open-ended, purposeless and provisional—rather like natural selection. Through a close examination of both natural selection and play, Toomey argues that life itself is fundamentally playful.
A globe-spanning journey and a scientific detective story filled with lively animal anecdotes, Kingdom of Play is an illuminating—and yes, playful—look at a little-known aspect of the animal kingdom.
Author
David Toomey
David Toomey is a Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he teaches courses in writing and in the history of science. He is the author of several books of nonfiction, including Weird Life and The New Time Travelers. In his lifetime he has known and played with a great many animals, both human and non-human.
Related to Kingdom of Play
Related audiobooks
The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar: Evolution's Most Unbelievable Solutions to Life's Biggest Problems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSleeping Beauties: The Mystery of Dormant Innovations in Nature and Culture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Methuselah's Zoo: What Nature Can Teach Us about Living Longer, Healthier Lives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecret Worlds: The Extraordinary Senses of Animals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wonderstruck: How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales from the Ant World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alien Worlds: The Secret Lives of Insects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Is Life?: Five Great Ideas in Biology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arrival the Fittest: Solving Evolution's Greatest Puzzle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Origins of Creativity Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sentient: How Animals Illuminate the Wonder of Our Human Senses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPower in the Wild: The Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Ways Animals Strive for Control over Others Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evolution Gone Wrong: The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don't) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete (Short) Guide to Absolutely Everything: Adventures in Math and Science Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Better Ape: The Evolution of the Moral Mind and How it Made us Human Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strange Survivors: How Organisms Attack and Defend in the Game of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brains Through Time: A Natural History of Vertebrates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerception: How Our Bodies Shape Our Minds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Adaptations: Star-Nosed Moles, Electric Eels, and Other Tales of Evolution's Mysteries Solved Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Modern Bestiary: A Curated Collection of Wondrous Wildlife Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think Tank: Forty Neuroscientists Explore the Biological Roots of Human Experience Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Property Species: Mine, Yours, and the Human Mind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Nature For You
Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elephant Whisperer: My Life With the Herd in the African Wild Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Uncertain Sea: Fear is everywhere. Embrace it. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Underland: A Deep Time Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Coffee: A Sustainable Guide to Nootropics, Adaptogens, and Mushrooms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Genius of Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When You Find My Body: The Disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Every Living Thing: The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Venom Doc: The Edgiest, Darkest, Strangest Natural History Memoir Ever Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Kingdom of Play
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews