Octopus emotions, and past lessons for present innovation: Books in brief

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

Andrew Robinson
25 September 2023

Many Things Under a Rock
David Scheel W. W. Norton (2023)

Before he began his 25-year marine-biology career studying octopuses, David Scheel was diving in Alaska when he followed one of the creatures down to the sea bed. He watched it change colour to match some kelp, then pull a blade of the seaweed over its head, apparently to hide. When Scheel peeked under this shroud, a black horizontal pupil gazed back, as though the creature was “embarrassed”. But is such octopoid emotion possible? Scheel discusses evidence that the animals are capable of complex cognition.


The Economics of Creative Destruction
Eds Ufuk Akcigit & John Van Reenen Harvard Univ. Press (2023)

Research and development “is by nature both creative and destructive”, write economists Ufuk Akcigit and John Van Reenen. Their edited collection is a response to this juxtaposition, a concept stemming from a 1992 paper, ‘A model of growth through creative destruction’ by economists Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt (who contribute). The volume emerged from a 2021 meeting of more than 100 scholars, including 11 Nobel laureates. It is impressive, always scholarly and sometimes generally accessible.

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