An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around by Ed Yong

Ed Yong's An Immense World is a work of narrative nonfiction that explores the radically different ways animals perceive the world through their senses — from the magnetic navigation of sea turtles to the electrical communications of river fish — organised around the concept of the Umwelt, the unique sensory bubble each creature inhabits. Originally published in 2022 and reissued by Random House Trade Paperbacks in 2023, the book won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the Royal Society Science Book Prize, was named one of The New York Times's ten best books of 2022, and appeared on Barack Obama's list of favourite books of the year. Critics called it "thrilling," critics called it "dazzling," and Oprah Daily named it "one of this year's finest works of narrative nonfiction." It stands as one of the most celebrated popular-science books of recent years.

Reviewed Mar 22, 2026