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Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process
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Manufacturer: Collins
List Price: $23.95
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On September 6, 2007, an African Grey parrot named Alex died prematurely at age thirty-one. His last words to his owner, Irene Pepperberg, were "You be good. I love you."
What would normally be a quiet, very private event was, in Alex's case, headline news. Over the thirty years they had worked together, Alex and Irene had become famous—two pioneers who opened an unprecedented window into the hidden yet vast world of animal minds. Alex's brain was the size of a shelled walnut, and when Irene and Alex first met, birds were not believed to possess any potential for language, consciousness, or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence. Yet, over the years, Alex proved many things. He could add. He could sound out words. He understood concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer, and none. He was capable of thought and intention. Together, Alex and Irene uncovered a startling reality: We live in a world populated by thinking, conscious creatures.
The fame that resulted was extraordinary. Yet there was a side to their relationship that never made the papers. They were emotionally connected to one another. They shared a deep bond far beyond science. Alex missed Irene when she was away. He was jealous when she paid attention to other parrots, or even people. He liked to show her who was boss. He loved to dance. He sometimes became bored by the repetition of his tests, and played jokes on her. Sometimes they sniped at each other. Yet nearly every day, they each said, "I love you."
Alex and Irene stayed together through thick and thin—despite sneers from experts, extraordinary financial sacrifices, and a nomadic existence from one univerÂsity to another. The story of their thirty-year adventure is equally a landmark of scientific achievement and of an unforgettable human-animal bond.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.68650929
EAN: 9780061672477
ISBN: 0061672475
Label: Collins
Manufacturer: Collins
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2008-11-01
Publisher: Collins
Release Date: 2008-10-28
Studio: Collins
SIMILAR ITEMS:
• Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
• Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl
• The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots
• Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals
• Of Parrots and People: The Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species
CUSTOMER REVIEWS:
I Laughed... I Cried... I read "Alex and Me" - 
Yes, I laughed quite a bit, and I cried once and "Alex and Me" is an enjoyable book that really covers the author's early years (briefly) and her academic challenges (many) as well as the genius that was Alex, the Grey African Parrot.
The book is a quick read that could appeal to a broad age-range. I think it appropriate for even for tweeners as there's maybe one 'damn' and no violence or untowardness, unless you count Alex's happy mating dance he did when he was sitting on a human friend's shoulder.
The research is covered in easy terms. If you are really interested in the experimentation, by the way, you won't find this book satisfactory. Experiments are covered in general and easy to understand terms, but not 'vigorously'. You might try "The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots" which sounds like it would deal more with the profound information that Alex taught us.
All-in-all I wish there had been more Alex and less 'me'. The academic struggles for funding, and the battles with the staid, pig-headed science establishment were interesting, but the personal aggrandizement wasn't handled as well as it could have been. (There's just such a fine line there) "Alex and Me" is an appealing read, and I'm glad I read it, but it's best gotten at the library or used.
Pam T~
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We Are Still Alone -
What can be more fascinating then the discovery that animals have intelligence that transcends instinct? Intelligence that if proven declares to the world that our cohabitants on this planet have actual minds not just automatic organs called brains. That they are conscious creatures that have emotions, exhibit behaviour with a sense of right and wrong, can solve complex problems thought to be the sole domain of primates, and can communicate using human language.
Irene Pepperberg takes on this fascinating challenge with the narration of her thirty year life with the African Grey Parrot named ALEX for Avian Language Experiment. Her book, "Alex and Me", written in the years after the untimely death of Alex, provides a brief glimpse into that thirty year life - a biography of both their lives together and some of the science they conducted.
Unfortunately this book is not sufficient to explain the scientific precision that Pepperberg used during the training and experiments that were conducted with Alex. It is also not sufficient to probe the depths of her thirty year obsession to prove Alex, African Greys, and the greater animal kingdom are more like us than we have ever considered. It is sufficient to introduce her work, establish Alex in the zoological vernacular, and provide a platform to raise futher funding for the Alex Foundation to ensure future studies continue with these amazing birds. Alas it is a superficial treatment of the subject and therefore does not deal with the philosophical implications of these discoveries.
These birds have perhaps the intelligence of a 3 to 4 year old child -- what does that mean? Those of us who love animals, have grown up with animals, and can already communicate with our house pets have always recognized that there is more to their existence than what has been literally interpreted for us by our western philosophy, that humans are somehow unique. Does proving the fact that we are not unique change anything? The book is full of implications that it does, yet it never establishes why, after all this scientific research, that we should do anything different other than spend more time with our pets -- particularly if we own an African Grey -- but that is probably a sufficient purpose.
The book is short and not particularly well written but the anecdotes about Alex prove interesting enough to continue through to the end -- and it certainly compels one to seek more information about this research -- it does not, however, prove to anyone other than those who already know, that "we" are not alone.
Who Would Not Love Alex? -
It seemed strange to me that the author devoted so much of the book to her own personal history. But okay, no big deal. She had a hunch about animal intelligence and set out to prove it. I loved reading about the progress of the research, and about Alex's idiosyncracies. Made me want to go find a parrot to hang out with. The story has a strong tinge of sadness throughout. An appropriate follow up will be to see the documentary about the parrots in San Francisco.The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Wonderful Story -
Calling someone a "bird brain" should be taken as a compliment. That's what one realises after reading this book. One by one Alex knocked over the boundaries which represent different levels of intelligence which were previously only accessible to primates - with a brain the size of a walnut!
Apart from being an insight into the world of animal intelligence, we are also taken on a journey of the relationship that Dr Irene Pepperberg shared with Alex. One one hand she had to maintain scientific objectivity and on the other hand she shared a special bond with her experiment, like a mother and child. Worse still she had to battle the bias present in the (then current) scientific community which viewed animals as nothing more than machines. Eventually the scientists were won over by the evidence and our views of intelligence in animals has been overhauled.
Having had a pet parrot when I was a teenager I couldn't help but get a lump in my throat when Irene got the call about Alex's early death. It's easy to dismiss the intelligence of animals but these are questions which raise ethical concerns over whether we ought to be having them as pets.
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Great book but expected more scientific data. -
I just LOVE the story of Alex! This book is written in a novel-like way, rather than a scientific way. It will leave you with many questions.
For example, when Alex- who previously had only been presented grapes, bananas and cherries as a 'fruit' category- names an apple a "ban-erry", the author states that Alex probably thought that the apple tasted like a banana and looked like a cherry. When I read this, I was a bit disappointed with this explanation of what was one of his major milestones. It sounded like Alex made a creative new 'fruit' label based on different attributes, taste and shape. Since the author did not say whether or not Alex was trained in the category 'taste', this actually seemed more like a classical 'stroop', or object interference, effect.
Alex seemed to know his colors and shapes well. An apple has two colors, red like a cherry on the outside and yellowish like a banana on the inside. It is also round, like a cherry. To him, the apple when cut was probably mainly yellow like the banana, but red on the outside and round like a cherry, so he tried to place it into the categories he already knew, rather than combining shape and color into a new label in the 'fruit' category. Almost like showing a child a green carrot, instead of an orange carrot, the apple could have had a stroop effect on him. (A familiar shape with an incongruent color). If Alex had been conditioned more on color right before, then the 'ban-erry' label could be seen as an elision of two colors, apple-red and banana-yellow? This makes me wonder how the controls were introduced, otherwise an outcome like this would not have surprised the researchers? Did Alex have an acquired attentional bias towards color? This is important information though, because this would mean that he did not progress to an equal preference of color and shape, like children do 4.5 yrs+. (The fact that he labeled it as an elision, even color-based, is still amazing, though!)
All this was not clear from the book, but I am looking forward to maybe reading some research papers and other work with more scientific data. Definitely an entertaining read on some ground-breaking work!
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