Being a Beast, Charles Foster
Charles Foster wanted to know what it was like to be a beast: a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox, a swift. What it was really like. And through knowing what it was like he wanted to get down and grapple with the beast in us all. So he tried it out; he lived life as a badger for six weeks, sleeping in a dirt hole and eating earthworms, he came face to face with shrimps as he lived like an otter and he spent hours curled up in a back garden in East London and rooting in bins like an urban fox. A passionate naturalist, Foster realises that every creature creates a different world in its brain and lives in that world. As humans, we share sensory outputs, lights, smells and sound, but trying to explore what it is actually like to live in another of these worlds, belonging to another species, is a fascinating and unique neuro-scientific challenge.
About the author
Charles Foster is a Fellow of Exeter College, a qualified veterinarian, teaches medical law and ethics, and is a practicing barrister. He has taken part in expeditions all over the world, from racing across the Algerian Sahara to skiing to the North Pole, and has written books on law, philosophy, natural history, anthropology, archaeology, travel, evolutionary biology and theology. His publications include The Screaming Sky, which was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize, Being Human, and most recently, Cry of the Wild.
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