Weaving decades of field research with exciting new discoveries about the brain, and complete with astonishing photos taken by the author, Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel gives readers an intimate and extraordinary look at what makes these animals different from us, but more importantly, what makes them similar. Namely, their feelings of joy, grief, anger, and love. These similarities between human and nonhuman consciousness, self-awareness, and empathy allow the reader to reexamine how we interact with animals as well as how we see our own place in the world.

Includes index.

Lives of elephants -- Hitting reset -- Seeing elephants -- The same basic brain -- We are family -- Motherhood happens -- Playing for fun -- Elephant empathy -- Good grief -- Elephant talk -- It's going to be tough -- Ivory -- They know who they are -- Between land and water -- Killer whales -- Sea Rex -- A complex species -- Super social -- Singing and sonar -- Diverse minds -- Brain power -- Defying explanation -- Helping in mind -- The cost of captivity -- The big picture.