‘Furry Logic’ showcases how animals exploit physics
Book chronicles use of light, magnetism and other phenomena
SOUNDS GOOD When peacocks shake their tail feathers, they make low-frequency sounds that attract peahens. This manipulation of sound is one example of animals’ use of physics detailed in Furry Logic.
Jatin Sindhu/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Furry Logic
Matin Durrani and Liz Kalaugher
Bloomsbury, $27
Warning: Furry Logic is not, as the title might suggest, a detailed exploration of mammals’ reasoning skills. Instead, it’s a fun, informative chronicle of how myriad animals take advantage of the laws of physics.
Science writers Matin Durrani and Liz Kalaugher cite a trove of recent (and often surprising) research findings. They draw on their backgrounds — Durrani is a physicist, Kalaugher a materials scientist — to explain how animals exploit sound, light, electricity and magnetism, among other things, in pursuit of food, sex and survival. These creatures don’t consciously use physics the way that humans design and use tools, of course, but they are evolutionary marvels
