Why Elephants Cry

Why Elephants Cry is a fascinating frolic through the literature and evidence surrounding the use of unusual behavior of animals to measure and predict the environment. The role of animals, from the smallest ant to the biggest elephant, as predictors of environmental changes is framed around the climate crisis, which highlights the increasingly important part that animals will have to play in the future.

Renowned biologist Professor John T. Hancock collects anecdotal stories and myths along with scientific evidence, demonstrating that observation of animals can be of tangible use. He looks at the measurement of the air temperature using ants, crickets and snakes, and goes on to assess the evidence that the observation of a wide range of animals can predict the weather or the imminent eruption of volcanoes and earthquakes. Evidence of animals being able to predict lunar and solar events, such as lunar cycles and the Northern Lights, is also considered.

This is the only time that all this literature has been brought together in one place, a fascinating reference for anybody interested in animals and the environment. The book is also an ideal supplementary textbook for students studying animal behaviour.

Author Biography

John T. Hancock is Professor of Cell Signalling at the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE), UK. In 1984 he was awarded a degree in Biochemistry at the University of Bristol, where he stayed to complete his PhD in 1987. Following post-doctoral positions, he moved to UWE in 1993. John has had a long-standing interest in reduction/oxidation (redox) reactions and the molecules involved, but particularly how these mechanisms control cellular function. He has authored several editions of a textbook, Cell Signalling, where the processes of how cells perceive and respond to their environment is discussed. John also has several editorial positions for international journals, and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Oxygen. Recently, John’s research has focused on the role of hydrogen gas in biological systems, and he has written several articles on COVID-19, including about the impact of the pandemic on animals and animal welfare.