FireFly

Desmond Morris discusses Amazing Baby (Firefly Books, $40.00 hardcover)

In his latest work, Amazing Baby, Desmond Morris takes readers on a voyage of discovery to reveal the remarkable -- and sometimes surprising -- ways a baby develops from a tiny, helpless newborn into a toddler on the way to independence.

With his singular knack for demystifying science, Dr. Morris offers parents a clear explanation of the biology, physics, genes, and other factors that combined to produce that little bundle in their arms. More than 250 stunning color photographs and illustrations throughout the book illuminate the forces that drive the rapid changes that occur on a daily basis.

Click here for more info on Desmond Morris' new book, Amazing Baby.

Some of the engaging facts to be found in Amazing Baby


- During the nine months between conception and birth, a baby’s weight increases a staggering 3,000 million times.

- A female fetus seems to be more reluctant to leave the snug warmth of her mother’s womb than her male counterpart. On average, females babies spend a day longer in the womb than male babies. White babies, on average, spend five days longer inside their mothers than black babies, while Indian babies spend six days longer in the womb than white babies.

- Within moments of being born, a baby will be startled by loud noises and start to cry. Their hearing is acute and they can recognize voices and music or sounds heard from the womb. They show more interest in human speech than in other sounds and prefer high-pitched voices.

- Within 45 hours of birth, a newborn knows his or her own mother by her smell.

- Babies cannot distinguish between night and day until they are about ten weeks; they rely on their stomachs to regulate their day.

- Babies are born with swimming ability.

- Human babies are the only primates to smile at their parents.

- Babies are always slightly more advanced as listeners than as sound makers. By the end of the first year, they will have tuned in to the particular language spoken at home.

- During the second year of life, toddlers make an incredible transition – they acquire the ability to talk to their parents, to make statements, to ask and answer questions.

- One of the verbal skills that toddlers acquire during their second year is the ability to tell a lie. It happens once they discover that if they are distressed one of the parents will stop what he or she is going and rush over to them. New research has revealed that a baby as young as six months may use this strategy to gain attention.