Sentient

An enthralling examination of some of the most remarkable creatures in the animal kingdom, and what they tell us about what it means to be human.

*In *Sentient, Jackie Higgins assembles a menagerie of zoological creatures - from land, air, sea and all four corners of the globe - to understand what it means to be human.

'Spellbinding . . . More than any other book, [Sentient] has made me think differently about the world this year.' - Financial Times Best Books of the Year

The peacock mantis shrimp can throw a punch that can fracture aquarium walls.

The great grey owl can hear many decibels lower than the human ear.

The star-nosed mole's miraculous nose allows it to catch worms in as little as 120 milliseconds.

In Sentient we also meet the four-eyed spookfish and its dark vision, the vampire bat and its remarkable powers of touch, as well as the common octopus, the Goliath catfish and the duck-billed platypus. Each zoological marvel illustrates the surprising sensory powers that lie within us and enables us to engage with the world in ways we never knew possible.

'Lyrical and lucid . . . Higgins makes popular science accessible.' - *Observer*

Brimming with fascinating, frequently delightful and occasionally freaky trivia this is an entertaining, gentle and easily digestible read with some important and intriguing ideas at its core.

Auteur
Jackie Higgins grew up by the sea in Cornwall and has always been fascinated by the natural world. She is a television documentary director and writer, who read zoology at Oxford University, as a student of Richard Dawkins. She made wildlife films for a decade, for BBC as well as for Channel 4, National Geographic and The Discovery Channel. She then joined the BBC's science department, researching and writing, directing and producing programmes such as Tomorrow's World and Horizon. She lives in London with her family and she is the author of Sentient.

Résumé

*In *Sentient, Jackie Higgins assembles a menagerie of zoological creatures from land, air, sea and all four corners of the globe to understand what it means to be human.

'Spellbinding . . . More than any other book, [Sentient] has made me think differently about the world this year.' Financial Times Best Books of the Year

The peacock mantis shrimp can throw a punch that can fracture aquarium walls.

The great grey owl can hear many decibels lower than the human ear.

The star-nosed mole's miraculous nose allows it to catch worms in as little as 120 milliseconds.

In Sentient we also meet the four-eyed spookfish and its dark vision, the vampire bat and its remarkable powers of touch, as well as the common octopus, the Goliath catfish and the duck-billed platypus. Each zoological marvel illustrates the surprising sensory powers that lie within us and enables us to engage with the world in ways we never knew possible.

'Lyrical and lucid . . . Higgins makes popular science accessible.' *Observer*