We’ve long known that animals cross miles of water, land, and sky with pinpoint precision each day. Whether it’s the monarch butterfly’s annual winter trek to Mexico, a honey bee’s flight to a flower, or a homing pigeon’s journey back to the flock, they demonstrate navigation strategies that range from the simple to the astonishing.
It’s only in recent years that scientists have learned how these feats are actually accomplished. This evening, biologist James Gould and science writer Carol Gould explore the remarkable methods by which animals find their way to locations both nearby and across the globe. They delve into the elegant strategies and fail-safe backup systems, invisible forces and instinctual tools used by familiar and rare species in their navigations.
James Gould is professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University. Carol Grant Gould is a science writer who has published widely. The Goulds have written nine previous books, including The Animal Mind and Animal Architects. Their new book, Nature’s Compass: The Mysteries of Animal Migration (Princeton University Press), is available for purchase and signing at the program.
