Divorce Among the Gulls: An Uncommon Look at Human Nature

Biologist Jordan here observes medfly courtship, gorilla motherhood, sea gull nesting squabbles and other remarkable activities in the animal world. Wherever he looks, he finds parallels with human behavior, and he speculates that the human mind is actually an extension of the animal mind. Whether he writes of fruit bats emerging eerily from a eucalyptus grove at dusk, the magical universe of insects in a field of alfalfa or a rat on a power line silhouetted against the moon, Jordan's prose is scintillating, for he has a poet's ability to enchant and a naturalist's talent for opening our eyes to the wonders of the animal world. Above all, he succeeds in making us humble about human reasoning capacity, for it may not be as original or as beneficial as we like to think. (Mar.)