MIT researchers now know not only that rats dream, but what they dream about. But any pet owner who has heard her dog woof or seen his cat twitch during sleep knows that is not true.

He believed that during a dream, the awakened soul may see the future, “an award of joy or sorrow drawing near.” So it’s no wonder that humans were quick to reserve dreams for people alone researchers for many years claimed dreams were a property of “higher” minds. Pindar of Thebes, the Greek lyric poet, suggested that the soul is more active while dreaming than while awake.

© 2017 Simon & Schuster Audio (Ebook): 9781501161148“Humans have always exalted dreams. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan jetting water to bounce balls and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities-gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. “One of the best science books of the year.” -Science Friday, NPRĪnother New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig, this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” (The Daily Beast) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus-a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature-and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. “Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk did for raptors.” -New Statesman, UK Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction * New York Times Bestseller * A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year * One of the Best Books of the Month on Goodreads * Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year * An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year

The soul of an octopus by sy montgomery