FW: Inside of a Dog

  : NYTimes book review:

  Alexandra Horowitz's "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know" attempts explores what science tells us about dogs.

 

 As a psychologist with a Ph.D. in cognitive science, as well as an ardent dogophile, Horowitz aims "to take an informed imaginative leap inside of a dog — to see what it is like to be a dog; what the world is like from a dog's point of view."

 

 

excerpt:

 

Humans are good at seeing things right in front of us, Horowitz explains, because our photoreceptors are centrally located in an area of the retina called the fovea. Dogs do not have foveae and so are not as good at seeing things right in front of them. Those breeds, like pugs, that have retinas more like ours and can see close up, tend to be lap dogs that focus on their owners' faces, making them seem "more companionable."
 
 In dogs with long noses, often bred for hunting or herding, however, the photo­receptors cluster along a horizontal band spanning the middle of the eye. This is called a visual streak, and those dogs that have it "have better panoramic, high-quality ­vision, and much more peripheral vision than humans."

 
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/books/review/Schine-t.html

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Of course this book's title, "Inside of a Dog" reminds me of the Groucho Marx quote:
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
 
 
  

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