Turns a critical eye on Aesop's Fables to ask whether there is any scientific truth to Aesop’s portrayal of his animals.
Despite originating more than two-and-a-half thousand years ago, Aesop’s Fables are still passed on from parent to child, and are embedded in our collective consciousness. The morals we have learned from these tales continue to inform our judgements, but have the stories also informed how we regard their animal protagonists? If so, is there any truth behind the stereotypes? Are wolves deceptive villains? Are crows insightful geniuses? And could a tortoise really beat a hare in a race?
In Aesop's Animals, zoologist Jo Wimpenny turns a critical eye to the fables to discover whether there is any scientific truth to Aesop’s portrayal of the animal kingdom. She brings the tales into the twenty-first century, introducing the latest findings on some of the most fascinating branches of ethological research – the study of why animals do the things they do. In each chapter she interrogates a classic fable and a different topic – future planning, tool use, self-recognition, cooperation and deception – concluding with a verdict on the veracity of each fable’s portrayal from a scientific perspective.
By sifting fact from fiction in one of the most beloved texts of our culture, Aesop’s Animals explores and challenges our preconceived notions about animals, the way they behave, and the roles we both play in our shared world.
Aesop’s Animals is an interesting layman accessible nonfiction look at the potential truth behind the fables written by zoologist Dr. Jo Wimpenny. Due out 2nd Nov 2021 from Bloomsbury on their Sigma imprint, it's 368 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats (ebook available now).
The author has selected 9 different fables and examined them through the lens of zoology and related science. Each of the tales is retold in an abbreviated form and then explored in the context of scientific relation and behavior. The author references current and past research and observation and relates it to each of the 9 stories. This is not an academic treatise. There are no chapter notes or footnotes. The language is layman accessible and more narrative than precise. The book does include an abbreviated and helpful bibliography and index.
Four stars. The author writes with style and humor and tries (and succeeds) to make the read minimally pedantic. I can well imagine that she's a talented and popular lecturer.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
