Alex & Me - How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--And Formed a Deep Bond in the Process

by Irene Pepperberg

  —Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado; author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Animals Matter, and Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals

  “This is a brave book. By insisting on treating Alex as her friend—a friend with whom she laughs and must ultimately grieve over—Dr. Pepperberg takes a stand defying those who insist on confining the issue of consciousness to cold reductionism. I was fascinated to read the anecdotes about the intellectual capacity of parrots, but the best part of Alex & Me is the story of their friendship.”

  —Mark Bittner, author of The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

  “A wonderful, touching love story that combines humor, history, intimacy, philosophy, and ground-breaking science; a thoroughly delightful read about the thirty-year relationship of Irene and Alex.”

  —Joanna Burger, author of The Parrot Who Owns Me

  “Sometimes a single individual changes the world, even if it is a parrot. Together with his tutor, Irene Pepperberg, Alex systematically destroyed the notion—the way he destroyed so many other things—that all that birds can do is mimic human language. Alex clearly had a mind of his own, and a heart to match, as explained in this touching account of scientific perseverance and mutual attachment. Our notion of what a bird is has forever been changed.”

  —Frans de Waal, author of Our Inner Ape

  “Everybody who loves animals should read this book. Irene Pepperberg has done pioneering work on communication between people and animals. Alex has proved to the world that birds are much smarter than people think.”

  —Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation

  Credits

  Jacket photograph © David Carter

  Copyright

  ALEX & ME. Copyright © 2008 by Irene M. Pepperberg. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Mobipocket Reader September 2008 ISBN 978-0-06-171725-3

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