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[alyson]

Full Title: When Elephants Weep: the Emotional Lives of Animals

A fully annotated, scientific read, this book treats its subject thoroughly and somewhat defensively. It began with a chapter on emotions themselves, and how they're viewed by scientists; then came a chapter discussing the idea of emotions in animals and how that idea has been viewed in the past. The main body of the book was divided into types of emotions, and true stories of animals evidently embodying those emotions. All the stories were VERY carefully annotated--the reference section takes up as much space as an individual chapter, with sources such as Darwin, Goodall, a wide selection of animal behaviorists (ie those who worked with Koko and Michael, the signing gorillas,) and field researchers.

Being lowbrow, I enjoyed this book mostly for its animal stories. If you are too, check this out of a library, read the fun part, and skip the philosophy. I'm not sure if it's going to merit a second read unless you want to prove a point at a party.