We humans are endowed with a wonderful sensory apparatus that enables us to negotiate the complexities of the natural world and one another. However, we have but a narrow window on an enormous and complex environment that other living creatures inhabit and exploit in ways far, far different than our own. This course, based on the book An Immense World by Ed Yong, will explore the physics and physiology of the astonishing variety of animal senses that, hopefully, will impart a humility that befits our status as guardians of the Earth.

After a relatively brief career in medicine, Steven Somkin became a playwright and earned his living as a free-lance writer of medical films and print projects for pharmaceutical companies. Also, and somewhat relevant for this course, he served as a docent in paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History for ten years. Also, but not relevant for this course, he taught five OLLI courses on Greek plays.

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