Jonathan Balcombe

AS FEATURED IN SEASPIRACYAn Observer Book of the Year 2017A Sunday Times must readA New York Times BestsellerEndorsed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama Balcombe vividly shows that fish have feelings and deserve consideration and protection like other sentient beingsWhats the truth behind the old adage that goldfish have a three-second memory? Do fishes think? Can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? Myth-busting biologist and animal behaviour expert Jonathan Balcombe takes us under the sea, through streams and estuaries to the other side of the aquarium glass to answer these questions and more. He upends our assumptions, revealing that fish are far from the unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines so many of us assume them to be. They are, in fact, sentient, aware, social and even Machiavellian in other words, rather like us.What a Fish Knows draws on the latest science to present a fresh look at these remarkable creatures in all their breathtaking diversity and beauty. Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, it offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fish and inspires us to take a more enlightened view of the planets increasingly imperilled marine life. What a Fish Knows will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins the pet goldfish included.

Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History and a New York Times Editors Choice Pick"After reading Super Fly, you will never take a fly for granted again. Thank you, Jonathan Balcombe, for reminding us of the infinite marvels of everyday creatures." Sy Montgomery, Author of How to Be a Good CreatureFrom an expert in animal consciousness, a book that will turn the fly on the wall into the elephant in the room.For most of us, the only thing we know about flies is that theyre annoying, and our usual reaction is to try to kill them. In Super Fly, the myth-busting biologist Jonathan Balcombe shows the order Diptera in all of its diversity, illustrating the essential role that flies play in every ecosystem in the world as pollinators, waste-disposers, predators, and food source; and how flies continue to reshape our understanding of evolution. Along the way, he reintroduces us to familiar foes like the fruit fly and mosquito, and gives us the chance to meet their lesser-known cousins like the Petroleum Fly (the only animal in the world that breeds in crude oil) and the Chocolate Midge (the sole pollinator of the Cacao tree). No matter your outlook on our tiny buzzing neighbors, Super Fly will change the way you look at flies forever. Jonathan Balcombe is the author of four books on animal sentience, including the New York Times bestselling What A Fish Knows, which was nominated for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Science Writing. He has worked for years as a researcher and educator with the Humane society to show us the consciousness of other creatures, and here he takes us to the farthest reaches of the animal kingdom.

Un libro apasionante que cambiará por completo la forma de ver los peces y su mundo.Seguramente nos imaginamos que los peces tienen una vida sencilla y efímera, que solo se dedican a ocupar un lugar en la cadena alimenticia, a procrear y nadar, sin mayores objetivos. Pero la realidad es mucho mas estimulante y compleja, asegura Jonathan Balcombe, etologo y autor de este extraordinario libro que revela las asombrosas capacidades de unos seres sensibles, conscientes, sociales e incluso astutos y engañosos, muy parecidos a nosotros. A traves de un viaje por mares, rios y deltas, asi como por las aguas dulces o saladas de los acuarios, descubriremos como se comportan y que piensan y sienten los peces, criaturas de una diversidad y belleza abrumadoras. Aunque las mas de treinta mil especies marinas superan a las de los mamiferos, aves, reptiles y anfibios juntos, rara vez nos preguntamos por los medios que emplean los peces para identificar los lugares que habitan, desde marismas de aguas poco profundas hasta oceanos insondables, o sobre los vinculos que establecen con sus compañeros de banco y los modos como planifican, cooperan, se congracian o se decepcionan. Basandose en los ultimos datos cientificos y su propia experiencia, Balcombe reflexiona sobre nuestra relacion con los anima...

Bestselling author and PhD of ethology Jonathan Balcombe argues for a new perspective on natureone that rejects the idea of the wild as cruel and savage and instead highlights the cooperation and compassion between speciesand examines the role humans play in it.Turn on a nature documentary, and youre likely to see the wild at its most brutal: terrified wildebeests crossing crocodile-infested rivers, or sharks snapping at chum in bloody frenzies. Since Charles Darwin coined the term survival of the fittest, the view of nature as a harsh, unfeeling, and competitive landscape has dominated scientific thinking and popular culture.Yet studies are emerging that refute this cynical perspective. In his new book, bestselling author and PhD of ethology Jonathan Balcombe argues it is not competition but cooperation that allows nature to thrive and animals to have an overall positive, at times even joyful, existence. He gathers evidence of acts of kindness, consideration, and generosity among wild creatures. Some take place within the same species, like ants, for example, who carry their wounded back to the colony and nurse them back to health. Others occur between different species, as when a geneta small, catlike carnivorecatches a ride on the back of a rhino, or a tarantula shares her burrow with a tiny toad.Alongside its inevitable struggles, life presents rewards, and Balcombe foregrounds facets of creatures lives that foster pleasure, including play, touch, romance, and esthetic beauty. He also examines how humans fit into the equation. Amidst massive anthropogenic suffering, humans are capable of unrivaled goodness, as demonstrated by the countless wildlife rehabilitation centers, sanctuaries, and pollinator gardens cropping up around the world.Combining accessible scientific research and compelling personal narrative, Balcombe presents a new view of natureone that inspires compassion and respect for all life.