For centuries, animals have build their own amazing world of living before we the human being start to ruin their eco-system, destroys their habitat and push them to move into nowhere and could be drawn to their extinction.

Some of these amazing creatures have build their own “homes” to live in the way that (until) today’s technology, not all can be matched by human. In my opinion, insects have develop their own amazing architecture where the most amazing stuff among them, the spiders are the kings of architecture.

On their book, Animal Architects: Building and the Evolution of Intelligence, James L. Gould and Carol Grant Gould as the authors have described that the key of their ability to build such amazing architecture is the instinct, and the role of planning and insight. Spiders develop their nest not just as their home but also as their tools to catch preys.

Amazon editorial review from Publishers Weekly, in order to elucidate the thought processes of animals-and those processes’ evolution-the Goulds (The Animal Mind) consider those animals’ egg caches, cocoons, webs, nests and other structures.

According to the authors, “complex nervous systems exist to make sense of the world”; therefore, by examining the material construction sprung from those nervous systems, one can begin to understand how those systems function.

It makes a fascinating journey, with plenty of surprises. Beginning with the simplest structures of ants, wasps and bees, the authors introduce concepts of neural mapping to show what levels of brain complexity are necessary for the construction of such structures.

Distinguishing instinctual neural program from questions of spontaneity and creativity, the Goulds suggest that creatures as small as wasps can react with spontaneous problem solving behaviors.

The creativity of bower birds and beavers is more astounding: the former is known to build and decorate “maypoles,” clearly demonstrating aesthetic sense; and the latter display abstract reasoning, and even insight, in the maintenance and repair of their lodges, dams and canals.

This book is filled with fascinating vignettes illuminating the intelligence capabilities of species us humans would like to think of as inferior; again and again, the Goulds show that human beings aren’t necessarily the smartest kids in class.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 10:06 am and is filed under Animal World, Architecture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.