About the book: 2017 / For much of the past century, science has been overly cautious and skeptical about animal intelligence. Researchers of animal behavior either did not think about their intelligence or rejected the very concept. Most avoided this topic. But times are changing. Barely a week passes before new reports emerge about the complexity of cognitive processes in animals, often accompanied by videos on the Internet as evidence. What modes of communication do animals practice and do they have any semblance of speech? Can animals recognize themselves in the mirror? Do animals have friendship and emotional affection? Do they conduct wars and negotiate peace? In the book, readers will learn the answers to these questions, and also, for example, that rats can regret the decisions they make, crows make tools, octopuses recognize human faces, and special neurons allow monkeys to learn from each other's mistakes. Scientists openly talk about animal culture, their capacity for empathy and friendship. Forbidden topics no longer exist, including in the field of the mind, which was previously considered the exclusive property of man. The author talks about the history of ethology, about fierce disputes with behaviorists, and most importantly - about the enormous experimental work and observations of the natural behavior of animals. Analyzing the development of thought processes during the evolutionary history of various species, Frans de Waal convincingly shows that man in this series is only one of many thinking creatures. * * * This book was published as part of the Dmitry Zimin Book Projects program and continues the Dynasty Foundation Library series. Dmitry Borisovich Zimin is the founder of the Vimpelcom company (Beeline), the Dynasty non-profit program fund and the Moscow Time fund. The Dmitry Zimin Book Projects program combines three projects that are well known to the readership: the publication of popular science translated books Library the Dynasty Foundation, the publishing direction of the Moscow Time Foundation and the Enlightener award in the field of Russian-language popular science literature».