In order to accommodate holiday activities, the Natural History Society book club will have one meeting, rather than two, for the months of November and December.  We will meet on Monday, December 7, from 3:30 – 5:00, at Oma Landstra’s house. Contact Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org for directions, if needed.

We will discuss Carl Safina’s book, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. Amazon describes this book as weaving decades of field observations with new discoveries about the brain.  Safina writes about animal behaviors that challenge the fixed boundary between humans and nonhuman animals.  We will read stories of animal joy, grief, jealousy, anger, and love in various locations–in Africa, in Yellowstone National Park, in the Pacific Northwest. The similarity between human and nonhuman consciousness, self-awareness, and empathy prompts us to re-evaluate how we interact with animals.  It is a “graceful examination of humanity’s place in the world.”