WAYS OF KNOWING
UMWELT
Estonian biologist, Joacob Johann von Uexküll (1864-1944) “coined the term Umwelt—the surrounding world—to describe the unique and therefore limiting, sensory world of each animal species, including our own.

Gould, James L. and Gould, Carol Grant (1994: 18) The Animal Mind. Scientific American Library, New York.

 

Many animals have evolved specific sensory abilities much wider than our own. Examples include enhanced night vision, color vision, flicker fusion, audition and olfaction. In addition a wide variety of organisms are sensitive to the infra-red and ultra-violet spectra, and galvanic fields. In the absence of scientific instruments these alternative sensory worlds are inaccessible to humans.