Friday, October 6th | 1-2 PM

Do you love to read? Do you love to talk about what you’ve read with other readers? Do you want to read more but need some motivation? Join the Natural History Book Club and read along with others interested in topics ranging from beavers to the ice age. This book club is for adults eager to learn more about the natural history of the Southwest & natural history in general. The book club meets one Friday/month from 1 pm-2 pm and meets in the beautiful outdoor setting of the Discovery Gardens Ramada. Register for our newsletter anytime to receive email notices about our current books and meetings. For more information, visit the https://highlandscenter.org or call at: (928) 776-9550.

The book for October is the first half of The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants by Karen Bakker.
 

About the Book:

An amazing journey into the hidden realm of nature's sounds

The natural world teems with remarkable conversations, many beyond human hearing range. Scientists are using groundbreaking digital technologies to uncover these astonishing sounds, revealing vibrant communication among our fellow creatures across the Tree of Life. 

At once meditative and scientific, The Sounds of Life shares fascinating and surprising stories of nonhuman sound, interweaving insights from technological innovation and traditional knowledge. We meet scientists using sound to protect and regenerate endangered species from the Great Barrier Reef to the Arctic and the Amazon. We discover the shocking impacts of noise pollution on both animals and plants. We learn how artificial intelligence can decode nonhuman sounds, and meet the researchers building dictionaries in East African Elephant and Sperm Whalish. At the frontiers of innovation, we explore digitally mediated dialogues with bats and honeybees. Technology often distracts us from nature, but what if it could reconnect us instead? 

The Sounds of Life offers hope for environmental conservation and affirms humanity's relationship with nature in the digital age. After learning about the unsuspected wonders of nature's sounds, we will never see walks outdoors in the same way again.