Fionnáin reviewed Built by Animals by Mike Hansell
Well constructed but lacking style
3 stars
This book does essentially exactly what its title promises: It maps a litany of different methods of building by creatures, from microscopic bacteria to primates to termites to beavers to crows. As an overview of the methods employed, it is thorough and enjoyable, if a little dry.
An easy complaint with the book is that, while it regularly advises against human-centric thinking (such as comparing the building methods of animals to that of humans), often in the same paragraph, Hansell uses humanist ideas to confirm his own biases about nonhuman construction. He creates comparisons between primate 'intelligence' and human, but never acknowledges other possible forms of intelligence. This comes to a fore in a chapter on the use of tools, where there is little quarter given to experimental or non-western theories on non-human behaviours, instead insisting on traditional western thought about how brain size affects behaviour. This positioning is a …
This book does essentially exactly what its title promises: It maps a litany of different methods of building by creatures, from microscopic bacteria to primates to termites to beavers to crows. As an overview of the methods employed, it is thorough and enjoyable, if a little dry.
An easy complaint with the book is that, while it regularly advises against human-centric thinking (such as comparing the building methods of animals to that of humans), often in the same paragraph, Hansell uses humanist ideas to confirm his own biases about nonhuman construction. He creates comparisons between primate 'intelligence' and human, but never acknowledges other possible forms of intelligence. This comes to a fore in a chapter on the use of tools, where there is little quarter given to experimental or non-western theories on non-human behaviours, instead insisting on traditional western thought about how brain size affects behaviour. This positioning is a small bugbear, however, in a book that is otherwise an adequate, broad and interesting dive into the many homes that are built by the countless critters that share this planet with us.