Association Executive Book Shelf

Books reviewed by Raphael Badagliacca

Why Dinosaurs Matter Why Dinosaurs Matter (TED Books)
by Kenneth Lacovara (2017, Simon and Schuster)

The author begins by writing to us about Einstein and his many achievements during his life.  Einstein is gone, though.  But that hardly means he doesn’t matter.

Same with the dinosaurs.  They ruled the earth much longer than we can ever hope to, and they had no hand in their own demise.  It was an accident just as their appearance was an accident of evolution, as is ours.

This is a book about perspective, and it’s full of wisdom.  Einstein makes another appearance when the author quotes him to say that common sense is a poor guide to understanding the structure of the universe.  Not that reality is nonsensical…Far from it.  But it is different than what appears on the surface.  This is an encouragement to look deeply at things, whatever your role in life, but especially if you are a leader.    

“A fossil without a story is just a rock,” the author tells us.  A sentence like this has so many applications to our attempts to succeed by communicating with others that they cannot be counted. 

“Why study the past?” the author asks.  “Because that’s where the answers are.”

Prior to the turn of the 19th century, there was no coherent story of the earth (the place we live) that could explain fossils that were found.  It took a change in attitude to understand as the author puts it, “that our historical past had a past and that past had a past and so on.”  It took the coming together of geology, paleontology, and evolutionary biology to open the windows of the mind, so scientists and researchers could see what was not immediately apparent and on the surface, much like Einstein did. “I wouldn’t have seen it if I didn’t believe it” is the attitude of openness that enables us to see.  Again, he says, “observing fosters awareness and awareness prepares the mind to observe.”  Tell me that doesn’t have application for almost everything you do.

“Time is the fuel of evolution.”  There is a beautiful chapter on deep time, in which the author admits that deep time is unfathomable.  In our limited spans, it is not something we can understand.  The history of the earth is not a postage stamp, it’s a football field, and our history or that of the dinosaurs is only one of the infinite possible histories we or they could have had.  We are lucky freaks of nature, but the fact that we are lucky should be a source of gratitude, not the pride that puts us at the center of the story of an earth which precedes us by billions of years. By removing ourselves from center stage, we begin to see ourselves as part of nature.    

From the beginning of the book, the author reminds us that the dinosaurs were not the agents of their own demise.  They did nothing to bring on the asteroid that led to their destruction.  But in the case of climate change in our era, we run the risk of being the asteroid. 


This book will get you thinking.


The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and CompassionThe Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion: Surprising Observations of a Hidden World
by Peter Wohlleben (2017, Greystone Books Ltd.)

Can animals count?  I’m not talking about Clever Hans, the horse that performed fraudulently by responding to signals from his farmer.  The author tells us about a family of goats on his farm.  A creature of habit, he went out twice a day to the area where the goats grazed, once in the early morning and once at lunchtime.  He fed them on the second visit.  They quickly learned when to expect their food.  When he left the farm for a few weeks, he gave the task of feeding the goats to his son, who had a much more erratic schedule.  He went out once in the day to check on things as his father had instructed and then the second time both at widely different hours of the day.  The goats never paid attention to him the first time he came out, but always surrounded him bleating for their food the second time, no matter what hour of the day.  It’s not surprising that they surrounded him the second time, but it is surprising that they paid no attention the first time; even when that time corresponded with the time his father usually fed them.  Clearly, they knew the second time was the one that mattered.

“The Hidden Life of Trees” was the first book I read by Peter Wohlleben.  He brought the forest alive for me, explained ways that different tree species protected their own, came to the aid of those in trouble, and have a capacity to remember.  He had a telling chapter on whether plants could feel, and an insightful description of strategies for survival that trees use every day.  He also gave me an appreciation for how slowly things happen in a forest.  Measured in centuries.

Many animals exhibit selfless mother love.  Roosters are deceptive.  Pigs are smart.  Monkeys lie.  Crows show gratitude.  Red squirrels can be thieves.

There are countless examples of activities and feelings the author shows us throughout the book.  Mostly, he challenges our notion that we are different from them, that we belong to a different kingdom, that they do not experience joy and grief, and that they do not suffer when anyone who truly looks closely will draw the opposite conclusion.  It’s not a question of anthropomorphizing them to say that they are like us, but rather to recognize in ourselves how we are like them, and respect our kinship.          .