An Immense World

How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

By: Ed Yong

Narrated by: Ed Yong

Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “thrilling” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong

“One of this year’s finest works of narrative nonfiction.”—Oprah Daily

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time, People, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Slate, Reader’s Digest, Chicago Public Library, Outside, Publishers Weekly, BookPage

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Economist, Smithsonian Magazine, Prospect (UK), Globe & Mail, Esquire, Mental Floss, Marginalian, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal

The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world.

In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved.

Funny, rigorous, and suffused with the joy of discovery, An Immense World takes us on what Marcel Proust called “the only true voyage . . . not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes.”

WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL • FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON AWARD

©2022 Ed Yong (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A thrilling tour of nonhuman perception . . . Nature’s true wonders aren’t limited to a remote wilderness or other sublime landscape. . . . There is as much grandeur in the soil of a backyard garden as there is in the canyons of Zion.”—The New York Times

“A dazzling ride through the sensory world of astoundingly sophisticated creatures . . . It’s Mr. Yong’s task to expand our thinking, to rouse our sense of wonder, to help us feel humbled and exalted at the capabilities of our fellow inhabitants on Earth. . . . [A] deeply affectionate travelogue of animal sensory wonders.”—The Wall Street Journal

“One of this year’s finest works of narrative nonfiction . . . Yong’s reporting is layered, seasoned with vivid scenes from laboratories and in the field, interviews with researchers across a spectrum of disciplines.”—Oprah Daily

What’s it like to be human?

What a delightful and curious book. Not only educational, but entertaining too!

I hope millions of people listen/read this and really think about how extraordinary their umwelt are. There’s so much out there to be appreciated, so much we don’t even know.

Being able to recognize the intricacies of life on a global scale is uniquely human. We ought to cherish and protect what we’ve got.

What an amazing book

I loved this book. Absolutely adored it. So much inspiration for writing and for life. Everyone I know is probably sick of hearing about it. Read it!

Wonderful

What a wonderful and thoughtful book. May we all read and learn from his ideas.

Fantasric!

The world of animals and insects is amazing! The lowliest creatures seem to be perfectly designed and engineered.

Everyone needs to read/listen to this book!!

Amazing, Awesome, Educational, Eye Opening, Incredibly Well Written and Read!! If you like to learn something new everyday, listen to this book and learn something new every few minutes. I just finished it and am about to start it again! Thank you Ed Yong, truly a masterpiece!

Great read/listen

thoroughly researched and pleasantly delivered. I could listen to Ed read stereo instructions. Worth the investment.

Marvelous!

That was a joyful learning adventure. Both material content, and the reading were perfect. After listening to this audiobook, I see the world with new eyes.

Think differently, Humans

Fascinating exploration of Nature that can turn every reader into a more thoughtful human. Wonderful adventure with super serious under current told with good humor and gentle wisdom. Very glad I read it (and will again).

MUST EXPERIENCE THIS BOOK

This is an mind-altering book. Your perspective on the world is guarunteed to grow.

Wonderful book about the senses and the animal world around us

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. Interesting scientific research put into a story that makes you think about how other species perceive the world. Enjoyed the performance by Ed Yong, his voice was soothingly academic and energetic without being boring. You could hear his excitement come through as he was reading the book.