Books with author Konrad Lorenz

This work has had significant impact on the social and biological sciences and is now a classic point of reference for investigations of behavioral patterns. Lorenz presents his findings on the mechanism of aggression and how animals control destructive drives in the interest of the species. Translated by Marjorie Kerr Wilson. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Solomon, the legend goes, had a magic ring which enabled him to speak to the animals in their own language. Konrad Lorenz was gifted with a similar power of understanding the animal world. He was that rare beast, a brilliant scientist who could write (and indeed draw) beautifully. He did more than any other person to establish and popularize the study of how animals behave, receiving a Nobel Prize for his work. King Solomon's Ring, the book which brought him worldwide recognition, is a delightful treasury of observations and insights into the lives of all sorts of creatures, from jackdaws and water-shrews to dogs, cats and even wolves. Charmingly illustrated by Lorenz himself, this book is a wonderfully written introduction to the world of our furred and feathered friends, a world which often provides an uncanny resemblance to our own. A must for any animal-lover!

This first volume of the collected papers of Lorenz presents an authoritative review of the founding period of one of the newest sciences. Written during the years 1931-42, these six papers provide a rich source of information on the development of his ethological approach. Lorenz defines a range of behavioral acts: innate, instinctive, conditioned, and insight controlled. He then analyzes their manner of interrelation in the overall behavior of a species of animal. Whatever one's position on the theoretical concepts developed here, the discussion of the Spencer/Lloyd Morgan theory, McDougall's theory of instinct, the reflex theory of the instinctive behavior pattern, imprinting, or Lorenz's own observational techniques and principles - these papers provide an exciting and stimulating array of ideas and will interest the nonspecialist and the student as well as the biologist, sociologist, anthropologist, and ethologist.