---
product_id: 1793940
title: "Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid"
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---

# Deep dive into marine biology & ocean mysteries 224 pages of captivating squid science Explores cephalopod intelligence & neuroscience Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid

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## Summary

> 🦑 Unlock the secrets of the ocean’s most curious minds — don’t miss the squid sensation!

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- **What is this?** Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid
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## Key Features

- • **Dive into Deep Sea Wonders:** Explore the enigmatic world of squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish with vivid storytelling and cutting-edge science.
- • **Join the Intellectual Wave:** Stay ahead of the curve with a book praised by top scientists and bestselling authors alike.
- • **Unlock Cephalopod Intelligence:** Discover groundbreaking insights into the complex brains and behaviors of these alien-like marine creatures.
- • **Experience Science Meets Adventure:** Join real-life researchers on thrilling nocturnal squid expeditions and unravel oceanic mysteries.
- • **A Must-Have for Marine Science Enthusiasts:** First major volume on squid science in over a decade, blending history, biology, and medical breakthroughs.

## Overview

Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid is a 224-page popular science book that delves into the biology, intelligence, and mysterious behaviors of squids and other cephalopods. Written by acclaimed science reporter Wendy Williams, it combines historical anecdotes, modern research, and thrilling marine adventures to reveal the profound connections between humans and these alien-like sea creatures. Highly rated and a top pick for marine life enthusiasts, this book is the definitive exploration of squid science in over a decade.

## Description

Kraken is the traditional name for gigantic sea monsters, and this book introduces one of the most charismatic, enigmatic, and curious inhabitants of the sea: the squid. The pages take the reader on a wild narrative ride through the world of squid science and adventure, along the way addressing some riddles about what intelligence is, and what monsters lie in the deep. In addition to squid, both giant and otherwise, Kraken examines other equally enthralling cephalopods, including the octopus and the cuttlefish, and explores their otherworldly abilities, such as camouflage and bioluminescence. Accessible and entertaining, Kraken is also the first substantial volume on the subject in more than a decade and a must for fans of popular science. Praise for KRAKEN: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid "Williams writes with a deft, supple hand as she surveys these spindly, extraordinary beasts and their world. She reminds us that the known world might be considerably larger than in the days of the bestiary-makers, but there is still room for wonder and strangeness." -Los Angeles Times.com "Williams's account of squid, octopuses, and other cephalopods abounds with both ancient legend and modern science." -Discover "[Exposes squid's] eerie similarities to the human species, down to eye structure and the all-important brain cell, the neuron." - New York Post "just the right mix of history and science" -ForeWord Reviews "Kraken is an engaging and expansive biography of a creature that sparks our imagination and stimulates our curiosity. It's a perfect blend of storytelling and science." -Vincent Pieribone, author of Aglow in the Dark KRAKEN extracts pure joy, intellectual exhilaration, and deep wonder from the most unlikely of places--squid. It is hard to read Wendy Williams's luminous account and not feel the thrill of discovery of the utterly profound connections we share with squid and all other living things on the planet. With wit, passion, and skill as a storyteller, Williams has given us a beautiful window into our world and ourselves. --Neil Shubin, author of the national bestseller " Your Inner Fish " Wendy William's KRAKEN weaves vignettes of stories about historical encounters with squid and octopus, with stories of today's scientists who are captivated by these animals. Her compelling book has the power to change your world-view about these creatures of the sea, while telling the gripping, wholly comprehensible story of the ways in which these animals have changed human medical history. --Mark J. Spalding, President, The Ocean Foundation

Review: The Squids Are Alright - This book is very much in the pop-science model — it’s about science, but it isn’t a textbook. There’s a lot less detail in some ways, but there’s a lot more reader-friendly writing so as not to run off people who don’t have advanced degrees in zoology. There’s a lot of really interesting stuff here — we start out with a short history lesson, where we meet the first people to prove that large squids actually existed. We get lots of detail about squid anatomy. We take a cold, nighttime boat ride with a bunch of marine researchers as they do the messy, chaotic work of catching, tagging, and releasing Humboldt squid in Monterey Bay. We get details about cephalopod luminescence and about their amazing ability to change color in extremely detailed ways — especially interesting because they’re colorblind. We learn how the study of squids has led to breakthroughs in biology, medicine, and neuroscience. We get probably more info than we ever really wanted on the bizarre, endlessly varied mating habits of cephalopods. We get a lot of info about just how smart squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish are. I really think this is one of the most interesting scientific questions out there right now — there’s pretty widespread consensus that cephalopods are smarter than we suspected they might be, but no one really knows if they’re as smart as a mouse, as a cat, as a dog, as an ape, or even higher. They seem to be very good at figuring out puzzles — but is that true intelligence or animal instinct? Are their camouflaging and color-changing abilities better indicators of intelligence? Researchers who work closely with these animals say they’re intelligent and even have individual personalities — but is that just mankind anthropomorphizing animals? And how on earth do you measure the intelligence of any creature as deeply alien to the human bipedal norm? This is deeply fascinating and extremely readable. Some things are covered amazingly well. We get a very real sense that scientists are sometimes frustrated by how much they know but how little they understand about animals like squids. And this book has the very best discussion I’ve ever seen about animal intelligence and the question of how to measure it. Researchers used to give dogs the same IQ test they’d give babies — paint a dot on their forehead, put ’em in front of a mirror, and see whether they realize that the image in the mirror is really them. The problem, however, is that dogs don’t have a strong visual sense, so mirrors aren’t particularly significant to them — sense of smell, on the other hand, is very powerful for dogs, so intelligence tests should focus on the ways dogs learn through their olfactory senses. So how do you design IQ tests for an octopus? If this book has a weak point, it might be that it gives very short shrift to the cephalopod in popular culture. There’s some discussion of some old novels and a monster movie from the ’50s, but this really is a golden age for squid popularity in the mass media, and it was an element I was a bit surprised to see get so little attention in this very thorough and comprehensive book. Nevertheless, that’s a very minor nitpick for a book I really had a blast reading. Go pick it up.
Review: FASCINATING SUBJECT, WELL EXPLAINED - MONTGOMERY, Sy. The Soul of an Octopus. Atria. 2015. 261p, illus., bibliog., index. WILLIAMS, Wendy. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid. Abrams Image. 2011. 224p, illus., bibliog., index. These two books are about cephalopods –octopuses (not “octopi,” the word comes from Greek, not Latin) and squid. Both books are well written and copiously illustrated (photographs and drawings) but what makes them such fascinating reading is the creatures they are about. Octopuses and squid offer us our only examples of what intelligence and feeling could be like outside of the vertebrate family. University of Chicago neuroscientist Cliff Ragsdale comments: “Short of Martians showing up and offering themselves up to science, cephalopods are the only example outside of vertebrates of how to build a complex, clever brain.” Alexa, who works with octopuses as a volunteer, says: “There’s nothing as peculiar as an octopus.” (Both quoted in Montgomery) There is ample evidence of octopus intelligence. There is general agreement that they are among the smartest animals on earth. But it’s not our kind of intelligence, not even close although there enough points of similarity to convince observers they are reasoning and feeling. To start with, their brains are organized differently, distributed in parts spread across a central brain and eight tentacles rather than consolidated in one central spot like ours is. Furthermore, whatever they think and feel, their actions are so different from ours that in many cases, we don’t have a clue why they react like they do. Octopuses in captivity, even in the wild, respond differently to different people. With some they’re comfortable, even friendly, with others hostile or defensive. We know from this and from their puzzle-solving ability --they are master locksmiths, for instance, who can get though up to three sealed containers to reach the food within-- that they make inferences and remember what they’ve learned. They get bored, need to keep active. Bored octopuses held captive in tanks get in trouble, much like bored Border collies moping around a house get in trouble, but where the collie will likely chew up rugs and furniture, the octopus will try to escape, maybe migrate to a neighboring tank to eat the creatures inside it. Octopuses in captivity beg for food, appearing in the same part of the tank and adopting the same posture whenever food-bearers arrive. We can read their emotions in broad strokes: red, angry or excited: white, calm or indifferent. The books are written by seasoned science reporters. This is Montgomery’s ninth natural science book for adult readers and her twenty-first in all. For Williams, it’s her seventh. Both writers have won awards for science reporting. Montgomery’s is the warmer book, as she details her personal interactions with four octopuses in succession: gentle, friendly Athena; playful, inquiring Octavia; the more fiery Kali; and Karma. These are fascinating and informative books about a creature that’s like us in some respects but alien in most, an animal that sees and weighs us just as do it. Montgomery’s especially is about what it means to respect and love a creature without expecting it to become like us.

## Features

- Used Book in Good Condition

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #412,469 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #136 in Marine Life |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 173 Reviews |

## Images

![Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/610H7gHDMxL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Squids Are Alright
*by S***S on April 15, 2017*

This book is very much in the pop-science model — it’s about science, but it isn’t a textbook. There’s a lot less detail in some ways, but there’s a lot more reader-friendly writing so as not to run off people who don’t have advanced degrees in zoology. There’s a lot of really interesting stuff here — we start out with a short history lesson, where we meet the first people to prove that large squids actually existed. We get lots of detail about squid anatomy. We take a cold, nighttime boat ride with a bunch of marine researchers as they do the messy, chaotic work of catching, tagging, and releasing Humboldt squid in Monterey Bay. We get details about cephalopod luminescence and about their amazing ability to change color in extremely detailed ways — especially interesting because they’re colorblind. We learn how the study of squids has led to breakthroughs in biology, medicine, and neuroscience. We get probably more info than we ever really wanted on the bizarre, endlessly varied mating habits of cephalopods. We get a lot of info about just how smart squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish are. I really think this is one of the most interesting scientific questions out there right now — there’s pretty widespread consensus that cephalopods are smarter than we suspected they might be, but no one really knows if they’re as smart as a mouse, as a cat, as a dog, as an ape, or even higher. They seem to be very good at figuring out puzzles — but is that true intelligence or animal instinct? Are their camouflaging and color-changing abilities better indicators of intelligence? Researchers who work closely with these animals say they’re intelligent and even have individual personalities — but is that just mankind anthropomorphizing animals? And how on earth do you measure the intelligence of any creature as deeply alien to the human bipedal norm? This is deeply fascinating and extremely readable. Some things are covered amazingly well. We get a very real sense that scientists are sometimes frustrated by how much they know but how little they understand about animals like squids. And this book has the very best discussion I’ve ever seen about animal intelligence and the question of how to measure it. Researchers used to give dogs the same IQ test they’d give babies — paint a dot on their forehead, put ’em in front of a mirror, and see whether they realize that the image in the mirror is really them. The problem, however, is that dogs don’t have a strong visual sense, so mirrors aren’t particularly significant to them — sense of smell, on the other hand, is very powerful for dogs, so intelligence tests should focus on the ways dogs learn through their olfactory senses. So how do you design IQ tests for an octopus? If this book has a weak point, it might be that it gives very short shrift to the cephalopod in popular culture. There’s some discussion of some old novels and a monster movie from the ’50s, but this really is a golden age for squid popularity in the mass media, and it was an element I was a bit surprised to see get so little attention in this very thorough and comprehensive book. Nevertheless, that’s a very minor nitpick for a book I really had a blast reading. Go pick it up.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ FASCINATING SUBJECT, WELL EXPLAINED
*by D***R on April 9, 2016*

MONTGOMERY, Sy. The Soul of an Octopus. Atria. 2015. 261p, illus., bibliog., index. WILLIAMS, Wendy. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid. Abrams Image. 2011. 224p, illus., bibliog., index. These two books are about cephalopods –octopuses (not “octopi,” the word comes from Greek, not Latin) and squid. Both books are well written and copiously illustrated (photographs and drawings) but what makes them such fascinating reading is the creatures they are about. Octopuses and squid offer us our only examples of what intelligence and feeling could be like outside of the vertebrate family. University of Chicago neuroscientist Cliff Ragsdale comments: “Short of Martians showing up and offering themselves up to science, cephalopods are the only example outside of vertebrates of how to build a complex, clever brain.” Alexa, who works with octopuses as a volunteer, says: “There’s nothing as peculiar as an octopus.” (Both quoted in Montgomery) There is ample evidence of octopus intelligence. There is general agreement that they are among the smartest animals on earth. But it’s not our kind of intelligence, not even close although there enough points of similarity to convince observers they are reasoning and feeling. To start with, their brains are organized differently, distributed in parts spread across a central brain and eight tentacles rather than consolidated in one central spot like ours is. Furthermore, whatever they think and feel, their actions are so different from ours that in many cases, we don’t have a clue why they react like they do. Octopuses in captivity, even in the wild, respond differently to different people. With some they’re comfortable, even friendly, with others hostile or defensive. We know from this and from their puzzle-solving ability --they are master locksmiths, for instance, who can get though up to three sealed containers to reach the food within-- that they make inferences and remember what they’ve learned. They get bored, need to keep active. Bored octopuses held captive in tanks get in trouble, much like bored Border collies moping around a house get in trouble, but where the collie will likely chew up rugs and furniture, the octopus will try to escape, maybe migrate to a neighboring tank to eat the creatures inside it. Octopuses in captivity beg for food, appearing in the same part of the tank and adopting the same posture whenever food-bearers arrive. We can read their emotions in broad strokes: red, angry or excited: white, calm or indifferent. The books are written by seasoned science reporters. This is Montgomery’s ninth natural science book for adult readers and her twenty-first in all. For Williams, it’s her seventh. Both writers have won awards for science reporting. Montgomery’s is the warmer book, as she details her personal interactions with four octopuses in succession: gentle, friendly Athena; playful, inquiring Octavia; the more fiery Kali; and Karma. These are fascinating and informative books about a creature that’s like us in some respects but alien in most, an animal that sees and weighs us just as do it. Montgomery’s especially is about what it means to respect and love a creature without expecting it to become like us.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazing book. Read it. Right now.
*by O***A on September 20, 2012*

I had heard good things about this book, but was not very excited. I bought it because my friend gave me money for it, but I did not expect much. Yes, I do adore squid, but I feared that this book would simply not meet my expectations. I was right. It didn't meet my expectations. It blew right past them. Written in a manner that invokes the reader's interest, this book discusses everything you have ever wanted to know about cephalopods (focusing on squid but touching on others) and more. I learned about neurology, humans, the sea - everything. Once I started reading, I could not put it down. Yes, I would have liked to know more about certain topics, but to appease this desire she would have had to have written a book thousands of pages long. I know how to do research; I looked up everything else I wanted to know. This book is fascinating, filled with a plethora of fact, and is a pleasant read. I recommend it. Seriously. And I don't write that many reviews.

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*Last updated: 2026-08-21*