Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid

This book is very much in the pop-science model — it’s about science, but it isn’t a textbook. There’s a lot less detail in some ways, but there’s a lot more reader-friendly writing so as not to run off people who don’t have advanced degrees in zoology. There’s a lot of really interesting stuff here — we start out with a short history lesson, where we meet the first people to prove that large squids actually existed. We get lots of detail about squid anatomy. We take a cold, nighttime boat ride with a bunch of marine researchers as they do the messy, chaotic work of catching, tagging, and releasing Humboldt squid in Monterey Bay. We get details about cephalopod luminescence and about their amazing ability to change color in extremely detailed ways — especially interesting because they’re colorblind. We learn how the study of squids has led to breakthroughs in biology, medicine, and neuroscience. We get probably more info than we ever really wanted on the bizarre, endlessly varied mating habits of cephalopods. We get a lot of info about just how smart squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish are. I really think this is one of the most interesting scientific questions out there right now — there’s pretty widespread consensus that cephalopods are smarter than we suspected they might be, but no one really knows if they’re as smart as a mouse, as a cat, as a dog, as an ape, or even higher. They seem to be very good at figuring out puzzles — but is that true intelligence or animal instinct? Are their camouflaging and color-changing abilities better indicators of intelligence? Researchers who work closely with these animals say they’re intelligent and even have individual personalities — but is that just mankind anthropomorphizing animals? And how on earth do you measure the intelligence of any creature as deeply alien to the human bipedal norm? This is deeply fascinating and extremely readable. Some things are covered amazingly well. We get a very real sense that scientists are sometimes frustrated by how much they know but how little they understand about animals like squids. And this book has the very best discussion I’ve ever seen about animal intelligence and the question of how to measure it. Researchers used to give dogs the same IQ test they’d give babies — paint a dot on their forehead, put ’em in front of a mirror, and see whether they realize that the image in the mirror is really them. The problem, however, is that dogs don’t have a strong visual sense, so mirrors aren’t particularly significant to them — sense of smell, on the other hand, is very powerful for dogs, so intelligence tests should focus on the ways dogs learn through their olfactory senses. So how do you design IQ tests for an octopus? If this book has a weak point, it might be that it gives very short shrift to the cephalopod in popular culture. There’s some discussion of some old novels and a monster movie from the ’50s, but this really is a golden age for squid popularity in the mass media, and it was an element I was a bit surprised to see get so little attention in this very thorough and comprehensive book. Nevertheless, that’s a very minor nitpick for a book I really had a blast reading. Go pick it up.

MONTGOMERY, Sy. The Soul of an Octopus. Atria. 2015. 261p, illus., bibliog., index. WILLIAMS, Wendy. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid. Abrams Image. 2011. 224p, illus., bibliog., index. These two books are about cephalopods –octopuses (not “octopi,” the word comes from Greek, not Latin) and squid. Both books are well written and copiously illustrated (photographs and drawings) but what makes them such fascinating reading is the creatures they are about. Octopuses and squid offer us our only examples of what intelligence and feeling could be like outside of the vertebrate family. University of Chicago neuroscientist Cliff Ragsdale comments: “Short of Martians showing up and offering themselves up to science, cephalopods are the only example outside of vertebrates of how to build a complex, clever brain.” Alexa, who works with octopuses as a volunteer, says: “There’s nothing as peculiar as an octopus.” (Both quoted in Montgomery) There is ample evidence of octopus intelligence. There is general agreement that they are among the smartest animals on earth. But it’s not our kind of intelligence, not even close although there enough points of similarity to convince observers they are reasoning and feeling. To start with, their brains are organized differently, distributed in parts spread across a central brain and eight tentacles rather than consolidated in one central spot like ours is. Furthermore, whatever they think and feel, their actions are so different from ours that in many cases, we don’t have a clue why they react like they do. Octopuses in captivity, even in the wild, respond differently to different people. With some they’re comfortable, even friendly, with others hostile or defensive. We know from this and from their puzzle-solving ability --they are master locksmiths, for instance, who can get though up to three sealed containers to reach the food within-- that they make inferences and remember what they’ve learned. They get bored, need to keep active. Bored octopuses held captive in tanks get in trouble, much like bored Border collies moping around a house get in trouble, but where the collie will likely chew up rugs and furniture, the octopus will try to escape, maybe migrate to a neighboring tank to eat the creatures inside it. Octopuses in captivity beg for food, appearing in the same part of the tank and adopting the same posture whenever food-bearers arrive. We can read their emotions in broad strokes: red, angry or excited: white, calm or indifferent. The books are written by seasoned science reporters. This is Montgomery’s ninth natural science book for adult readers and her twenty-first in all. For Williams, it’s her seventh. Both writers have won awards for science reporting. Montgomery’s is the warmer book, as she details her personal interactions with four octopuses in succession: gentle, friendly Athena; playful, inquiring Octavia; the more fiery Kali; and Karma. These are fascinating and informative books about a creature that’s like us in some respects but alien in most, an animal that sees and weighs us just as do it. Montgomery’s especially is about what it means to respect and love a creature without expecting it to become like us.

I bought one for me and one for a friend after she visited the Monterey Aquarium while on her vacation. We both enjoyed the book. Each of us had read the fascinating book by a diver who had volunteered to tend octopuses at an aquarium (in Massachusetts, I think). This book was a great follow up to read and enjoy.

I have always had what I thought was an uncommon fascination with sea life, cephalopods in particular. Turns out, there are many who share this interest and this book is not to be missed. This book reads like a well produced nature documentary. (In fact, I would love to see a filmed version that explores many of the ideas and topics presented within this book.) Parts of the book were a little repetitive and simple, whereas other sections were more in-depth and complex. However, unlike many scientific books, the author never 'loses' you by getting too detailed. Just when you think the explanations of axons, for example, are started to get over your head, the author wraps it up and moves on. Although this book is presented as being primarily about squid, about half of the content deals with other cephalopods, such as the octopus. What I really loved about this book (and the true measure of great non-fiction) is that you are presented with countless ideas, concepts, and topics that encourage further investigation. On the Kindle Fire, this is as simple as highlighting a word or phrase and doing an internet search. You may find yourself getting caught up viewing various pictures and videos online in the midst of reading this book. I absolutely love that the author found a way to keep the narrative simple enough that the reader can either move along at a comfortable pace, or let his or her curiosity temporarily divert them away from the text. I would have loved if the photos were available in a higher resolution for e-reading. They are hard to see on my Kindle Touch, and just barely better on my Kindle Fire. There is also a passage at the very beginning of the book that is actually an image, which is too hard to see, no matter how much I zoomed in. If the publisher could have found a way to include or enhance the images, or presented web links from within the text - this book would be perfect.

"Kraken" is a pleasant, informative overview. It contains a good deal of information about the other cephalopods (octopus and cuttlefish), as well as squid. I suspect that for most people, this book contains as much as you'll want to know about these creatures. It's not heavy on the science, but neither is it terribly superficial. I was left wanting a lot more information, but then, I'm a science geek. I already knew some things about cephalopods, and I certainly learned things from Ms. Williams' book. Nonetheless, I quickly ordered "Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness." I'm eyeing a couple of others as well. If you're casually interested in these beings, this will be a good book for you. If you're more interested than that, it's probably a good start.

I had heard good things about this book, but was not very excited. I bought it because my friend gave me money for it, but I did not expect much. Yes, I do adore squid, but I feared that this book would simply not meet my expectations. I was right. It didn't meet my expectations. It blew right past them. Written in a manner that invokes the reader's interest, this book discusses everything you have ever wanted to know about cephalopods (focusing on squid but touching on others) and more. I learned about neurology, humans, the sea - everything. Once I started reading, I could not put it down. Yes, I would have liked to know more about certain topics, but to appease this desire she would have had to have written a book thousands of pages long. I know how to do research; I looked up everything else I wanted to know. This book is fascinating, filled with a plethora of fact, and is a pleasant read. I recommend it. Seriously. And I don't write that many reviews.

A few interesting info bits about squids and octopi. Mostly brief bios about scentists who research squid and octopi biology etc. Writing level is roughly middle-school. Works as light reading on a plane or if you are rather bored. Pop-Science consisting 90% pop and 10% science. If you decide to buy it get the cheapest edition you can find because the book is not a keeper.

Picked this up as part of some light research I needed to do. I was expecting something dry and painful, something I would have to wade through with discipline and booze. Well, what a nicely paced, well-written, wonderfully informative book this turned out to be. It's not written to academia in that OMG-please-kill-me kind of way, but it's also not watered down so that your dog can read it along with you. It's intelligent, brisk and easily approachable, but filled up full with all kinds of crazy squid and octopus stuff that is all brand new and well researched and deliciously informative. Ms. Williams has done a fine job creating an interesting narrative that takes us not only through the tentacle-filled seas, but through history and humanity. Kraken is fine work that I highly recommend.