Sensible and Reprehensible Misunderstandings

This chapter highlights the literature on electroreception before 1974 by Faraday, Lissmann & Machin, Murray, Parker &Van Heusen, and Dijkgraaf & Kalmijn. The author discusses the literature from 1974 to 2021 that conflicts with his own scientific writings. Included are the author’s criteria for establishing an electric and a magnetic sense in sharks and rays. That the ampullae of Lorenzini have the physical ability to provide the animals with navigational information cannot be properly grasped without a comprehensive understanding of the physical concepts from the animals’ perspective. The lack of the necessary understanding of the physical principles has led to erroneous physical interpretations and related unsound behavior experiments. Through step-by-step explanations of the underlying physics, this chapter addresses the inaccuracies, misunderstandings, and shortcomings of alternative theories that have been put forward in the literature.