![Dolphin -- Watercolor by Grandson Chris Bayhi [at 8 yrs old]](http://www.doyletics.com/gmp/dolphin.gif)
The novel opens with an impending world-wide telecast of the first inter-species communication in the history of the world. Humans will be conversing with dolphins during a global television broadcast. As the first few chapters unfold we learn about Dr. Robert Mornay, a specialist in Marine Biology, who discovered this secret of how dolphins communicate: They Speak Pictures. As Mornay watches the introductory material of the broadcast, he reminisces over his childhood as he grew up reading all of the Dr. Doolittle books in his local library. We learn about how he discovers the secrets of dolphin communication during the breakup of his first marriage and his subsequent divorce and re-marriage.
At the end of each chapter the Dolphin People speak to the Human People in the form of pictures, moving pictures, newsreels of history, with dialogue in each country's native language provided by the simultaneous translation of the visual dolphin language into words.
The material in the novel about the possibilities of dolphin communication is within the realm of scientific possibility using available neural net and virtual reality technology. The novel contains a wealth of ideas and scientific information that could spawn research that will lead to actual inter-species communication.
Some of the questions this novel answers about inter-species communication:
- How do dolphins see their surroundings in absolute darkness?
- How do dolphins communicate with one another?
- Is it feasible for humans to make machines that communicate with dolphins?
- How was John Lilly on the right track in his dolphin research?
- How was Lilly on the wrong track?
- Why are dolphins considered polite?
- How is their politeness connected with their manner of speech?
- Why is it easy for dolphins to synchronize their actions with each other?
- Why can't dolphins learn to vocalize like humans?
- What machines used by humans most closely resemble dolphin speech?
Some of the questions this novel answers about dolphins:
- Why did the Dolphin People return to the sea after once being land animals?
- How do the Dolphin People make written records of their history?
- How do Dolphin People heal their sick?
- How do Dolphin People handle their fears?
- Why do the Dolphin People beach themselves?
- Why have the Dolphin People chosen to talk to the Human People?
Some of the questions this novel answers about people:
- How do humans actually see a three-dimensional world?
- Are any thoughts private?
- Can we remember the future?
- How are grief and fear related?
These and many more questions Dr. Mornay and his dolphin informants answer for us in the course of this lovely and deeply thoughtful novel. If it has never occurred to you that it might be possible to see newsreels of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, or witness the explosion of the entire island of Krakatoa, or to see Socrates feeding his dolphins, or watch Napoleon walking on the beach in Elbe, this novel is for you.