NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pulitzer Prize–winning science writer Ed Yong's "thrilling" (New York Times), "dazzling" (Wall Street Journal), and immersive exploration of the profoundly varied ways that animals see the world will leave you in awe and permanently change your worldview.
"One of the best narrative nonfiction pieces of the year."— Oprah Magazine
One of the top ten novels of the year The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, People, Time, Slate, Reader's Digest, Chicago Public Library, Outside, Publishers Weekly, BookPage, and The Philadelphia Inquirer
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE Oprah Daily, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Economist, Smithsonian Magazine , Prospect (UK), Globe & Mail, Kirkus Reviews, Esquire, Mental Floss, Marginalian, She Reads, and Library Journal
The senses of sight, touch, sound, taste, and electric and magnetic forces are all abundant on Earth. However, each kind of animal, including humans, is isolated in its own sensory bubble and can only perceive a small portion of our vast universe.
Ed Yong pushes us to see above the limitations of our senses in An Immense World, enabling us to detect the pressure pulses, electromagnetic waves, and fragrance threads that surround us. We come across creatures such as fish that transmit electrical signals across rivers, turtles that can follow the Earth's magnetic fields, beetles that are attracted to flames, and even people that use sonar like bats. We learn that the eyes of a big squid evolved to see shimmering whales, that plants hum with the inaudible calls of courting beetles, that a crocodile's scaly face is as sensitive as a lover's fingers, and that even basic scallops have intricate vision. We discover what scents dogs pick up on the street, what songbirds hear in their melodies, and what bees sense in flowers. As we consider the many unanswered questions, we hear accounts of significant discoveries made in the area.
An Immense World, described by Marcel Proust as "the only true voyage... not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes," is a humorous, challenging, and joyful exploration experience.
Selected for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal, the Kirkus Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Long List