There he reposes in a fold of rock, apparently weightless in the clear green medium but very large, his long arms, suppler than silk, coiled in repose, or stirring in recognition of your presence.

How then can one begin to describe the inside of Laura, where the child-mind lived in the midst of the familiar relics of the baby-mind, like a Fascist in Rome? Come across any reference to them and you’ll be amazed, but even with all the things we know, they’ve been unconscionably understudied and we still don’t understand how they do most of the things they do. In the process, he proves that, like all aliens, these strange, beautiful creatures are more like us than our hubris allows. In ‘Understood’ the narrator describes the complex process of re-imagining one’s place in the world, armed with new knowledge: ‘Slowly, we adjust / our own soft ignorance / unroll our prejudice / in gentle waves. One is soon reduced to mere physical admiration, like any silly painter, of the cow-like tenderness of the eye, of the beautiful and infinitesimal mobility of that large and toothless mouth, which accepts as a matter of course that very water against which you, for your life's sake, must be holding your breath.She soon makes friends with Charlie, the aquarium keeper’s nephew, and Temitayo, the African ward of an English gentleman. Fascinating and often delightful … This book ingeniously blends philosophy and science to trace the epic journey from single-celled organisms of 3.

The uplifting tale of Violet the Hugging Octopus shows the importance of loving yourself (and others)! Montgomery also has a book for kids, The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk, so that would be a good starting place for kids. One of my early jobs was with the Washington Department of Wildlife public information department, writing about fish, as well as other wildlife-related topics.

Godfrey-Smith weaves all these fascinating facts about these strange creatures with discussions of consciousness and intelligence in general, emphasising the importance of the sensori-motor loop in animal behaviours. If I Were An Octopusis a charming touchy-feely board book that incorporates cute illustrations with sensory fun for the littlest learners. These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. Speaking for myself, that’s the worst part about getting interested in a new topic — reading old science books and wondering if the information is still accurate.