The Unexpected Truth About Animals

I am an exceedingly arrogant human being. That is why I believe that every study of animals ultimately boils down to a question about humans. But what we are able to see depends entirely on the questions we ask. As a result, we humans cannot help but see our own reflection mirrored in the animal world. That is precisely what this book is about. Humans nitpick over everything in the world and parade their knowledge, yet to this day we don’t even know where or how an eel is born. And yet we presume to pass our own judgment on everything, whether visible or invisible. We regard the loathsome hyena and the sluggish sloth as living, breathing mortal sins. Penguins and pandas, on the other hand, are nothing but utterly cute and adorable. But the truth is not so simple. What more is there to say? We only ever see what we want to see. In the end, this menagerie of misunderstanding is a zoo of every kind of human, a zoo of desire and arrogance. Yet it is by no means an uncomfortable book to read. If we keep our laughter and good humor and inch forward little by little, clearing up more of our misunderstandings and drawing closer to the truth, isn’t that enough? I recommend it to anyone looking for a book on the history of science that is neither too light nor too heavy.

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Lucy Cooke. 2017. The Unexpected Truth About Animals. Translated by Cho Eun-young. Gombooks.