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Alex & Me

How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process
Jul 21, 2017DorisWaggoner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Irene, an only child, her mother a "freezer mom," grew up in the city. Her father bought her a series of parakeets, which asuaged her loneliness to some degree. She got a PhD in chemistry, but eventually knew she wanted to study parrots and how they learned. She got an African Grey Parrot, whom she named Alex. At that point, in the 1970s, birds were thought to, literally, have bird brains. Dr. Pepperberg thought Alex was smart, and began to teach him English to prove it. Because she had the "wrong" degree to be working with parrots, she couldn't get a faculty job--plus she was a faculty wife. She spent years moving with her husband and finding tiny quarters for her labs, and mostly volunteers to work with Alex. Her marriage broke up because he didn't think what she did was important. But she kept going, and published her findings. What she found is fascinating, and so is the book. She begins at the end, with Alex's premature death at about 30--half a parrot's normal lifetime. She was stunned by the world wide response, and by her own grief, because she'd tamped down how much she loved this bird who learned so much, had such a wonderful personality, and a sense of humor. This book is for lay people; she wrote another with her scientific findings. Still, I learned a very great deal.