Nature's Compass: The Mystery of Animal Navigation (Science Essentials)

Weknowthatanimalscrossmilesofwater,land,andskywithpinpointprecisiononadailybasis.Butitisonlyinrecentyearsthatscientistshavelearnedhowtheseastoundingfeatsofnavigationareactuallyaccomplished.Withcolorfulandthoroughdetail,Nature'sCompassexplorestheremarkablemethodsbywhichanimalsfindtheirwaybothnearhomeandaroundtheglobe.NotedbiologistJamesGouldandpopularsciencewriterCarolGoulddelveintotheelegantstrategiesandfail-safebackupsystems,theinvisiblesensitivitiesandmysteriousforces,andincrediblementalabilitiesusedbyfamiliarandrarespecies,astheyinvestigateamultitudeofnavigationstrategies,fromthesimpletotheastonishing.TheGouldsdiscusshowanimalsnavigate,withoutinstrumentsandtraining,atalevelfarbeyondhumantalents.Theyexplainhowanimalsmeasuretimeandshowhowthefragilemonarchbutterflyemploysaninternalclock,calendar,compass,andmaptocommenceandmeasurethetwo-thousand-mileannualjourneytoMexico--allwithabrainthatweighsonlyafewthousandthsofanounce.Theylookathoneybeesandhowtheyrelyonthesunandmentalmapstolocatelandmarkssuchasnestsandflowers.Andtheyexaminewhetherlong-distancemigrants,suchasthehomingpigeon,dependonaglobalpositioningsystemtoletthemknowwheretheyare.Ultimately,theauthorsaskifthedisruptionofmigratorypathsthroughhabitatdestructionandglobalwarmingisaffectingandendangeringanimalspecies.Providingacomprehensivepictureofanimalnavigationandmigration,Nature'sCompassdecodesthemysteriesofthisextraordinaryaspectofnaturalbehavior.