Jonathan Balcombe’s Followers (145)

Jonathan Balcombe

Born

in Hornchurch, England, The United Kingdom

February 28, 1959

Website

http://jonathanbalcombe.com/

Twitter

pumilla66

edit data

Jonathan Balcombe is a British-born ethologist, editor, and author known for his work on animal behavior, sentience, and the human-animal relationship. Raised in New Zealand and Canada before settling in the United States, he studied biology at York University and Carleton University before completing a doctorate in ethology at the University of Tennessee, where he researched vocal communication in Mexican free-tailed bats. Balcombe has worked with several animal protection organizations, including the Humane Society of the United States and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and later served as Director of Animal Sentience with the Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy. He has written influential books including Pleas ...more

Combine Editions
Jonathan Balcombe’s books

Average rating: 4.18 · 4,380 ratings · 678 reviews · 14 distinct works • Similar authors

	What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins 4.22 avg rating — 2,964 ratings — published 2016 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World's Most Successful Insects 4.14 avg rating — 429 ratings — published 2021 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals by Jonathan Balcombe, J.M. Coetzee (Foreword) 4.03 avg rating — 316 ratings — published 2010 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good 3.97 avg rating — 233 ratings — published 2006 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fish Sense 4.02 avg rating — 43 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Exultant Ark: a Pictorial Tour of Animal Pleasure 4.20 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 2011 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jake and Ava: A Boy and a Fish by Jonathan Balcombe, Rebecca Evans (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 4.06 avg rating — 17 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Use of Animals in Higher Education: Problems, Alternatives, & Recommendations 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2000	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African Oil 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2007	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beyond Tooth and Claw 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Jonathan Balcombe…

Quotes by Jonathan Balcombe (?)

“The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. —Eden Phillpotts Just”
― Jonathan Balcombe, What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins

4 likes

“Science likes to measure things, to test hypotheses and collect data. Until quite recently science wasn’t testing hypotheses about animal feelings. From the time Charles Darwin wrote his last book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) to about the time Neil Armstrong left footprints on the moon nearly a century later (1969), prevailing scientific dogma denied animals their hearts and minds. A nonhuman animal was viewed as merely a responder to external stimuli. The idea that a walrus made decisions, or that a parakeet felt emotions, was considered unscientific.”
― Jonathan Balcombe, Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals

3 likes

“Animals are as intelligent as they need to be. If a particular mental ability—such as learning to recognize other individuals, or to identify predators—is important to survival and reproduction, then it will be favored evolutionarily. But nature doesn’t waste energy building brains just because it can. All else being equal, an organism with a smaller brain should have a survival advantage over one with a larger brain, because the “brainier” one must consume more energy to sustain its gray matter.”
― Jonathan Balcombe, Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals

2 likes

See all Jonathan Balcombe's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD	2555	478	Nov 30, 2016 09:00PM
The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD	2755	474	May 31, 2017 09:01PM
Retro Chapter Chi...: Winter 2018: The "Waiting" Challenge	72	29	Mar 21, 2019 09:54AM
Catching up on Cl...: What's everyone reading right now?	8010	3208	Jun 16, 2021 08:32AM
The Lost Challenges: August 2025 Goodness Gracious Great Genres	37	40	Sep 22, 2025 03:00AM
The Lost Challenges: August 2025 The Listener	64	37	Sep 29, 2025 08:56AM
The Lost Challenges: Spell The States Part 2	158	94	Oct 21, 2025 09:22AM

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Jonathan to Goodreads.