Konrad LorenzKing Solomon's Ring (Routledge Classics)

This book, King Solomon's Ring: New Light on Animal Ways is a great book on the observations of animal behaviors. The author writes in a style that is easy to read and follow. If you like watching animals and what they do, this is a great book that adds insight and fun to the characteristics of animals and pets, including fish in an aquarium. I love this book.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I got this book and was afraid that it might be very dry and hard for a lay-person to understand. I could not have been more wrong! Lorenz writes in a manner that pulls the reader in and he steers clear of scientific jargon, writing in a manner that is highly enjoyable and understandable. This is a must-read for people who are interested nature and the behavior of animals, birds and other creatures.

This is a delightful glimpse into the scientific mind of Konrad Lorenz. He is one of the founders of ethology, the study of animal behavior. As you can see in this account, he saw the animals in his studies, not just as objects for observation, but as his friends. He describes the behavior of these friends with insight and humor.

I distinctly remember how brilliant I thought this book was when I read it for a college class many years ago. Saw it mentioned in another book I was reading recently, and thought I'd get it to enjoy again. And I will, just not on Kindle. The e-book formatting was so bad, I returned for refund, and will buy from B&N instead. A look at their sample shows something more like what I expect of a commercially marketed publication. And SO glad for my multiple e-readers!

Konrad Lorenz was one of THE three European founders of ethology (the study of the natural behavior of animals in their environments). Nikolas Tinbergen, Von Frisch, and Lorenz were co-awarded the Nobel Prize in 1973 for their preceding bodies of work which created this new scientific discipline.This was extremely significant to the course of American psychology which, until that time, had grown increasingly dominated by learning theory and the laboratory method. American psychology, influenced by the achievements of physics and medicine,etc., preferred studying behavior under controlled, laboratory conditions as the means for getting nearer "ultimate truth", which, at that time, was thought to almost always involve learning at its core--in accord with the principles and theories of famous American learning theorists such as Thorndike, Watson, Skinner, Hull, et al. Comparative psychology was the American branch that studied similarities and differences between animal species but controlled problems in a laboratory setting were greatly preferred. Observations of behavior, while valuable for designing later lab experiments, were considered less rigorous.So the truths Lorenz, Tinbergen, Von Frisch and their other European naturalist colleagues reported was as significant as the child's observation of the Emperor's new clothes. The truth of a significant lack was revealed. The laboratory method could not examine or reveal all important aspects of animal behavior; the lab method obscured or eliminated those behaviors occurring in natural settings.Lorenz and Tinbergen discovered, explored, and brought imprinting to the attention of the scientific behavioral world. Imprinting is the lasting (often irreversible) effects of early experience (occuring within a critical period of development) on the later behavior of animals. This contrasted with the view of normal learning theories which found the strength of a response was mainly a function of the number of practice trials. (Von Frisch's work was in understanding the "language" of bees.)Lorenz's "King Solomon's Ring" was a significant contribution that enabled lay people to understand the importance of such observations and prepared (sometimes excited) beginning students in the behavioral sciences to take psychology in new directions. Within a few years, learning theory no longer formed the spinal column and much of the skeletal structure of American psychology.I was a psychology graduate student during these years and the laboratory instructor for my university's professor of comparative psychology. It was an exciting time, seeing the old "truths" and axioms become overthrown and helping to search for new ones.The "Ring" is still a delightful and interesting read and inclines the reader to look with different eyes at the behavior of our animal friends. Possibly because I've kept current on research on dogs, I think it's weakest chapter is "The Covenant", Ch. 10, which is on dogs. Here Lorenz decides that most domestic dogs descended from the jackal while a few also descended from the wolf. Having advanced that thesis, he then describes in detail the dichotomy of personality and behavior to which these two antecedents lead and which can be commonly found in all their descendents.WRONG!For the last 40 years, we've become increasingly certain that almost all domestic dogs descended from wolves. Lorenz speculates an incorrect premise and then proceeds to elaborate (with charm and erroneous fact) on this in great detail. It's interesting and illuminating to see how wrong Lorenz can be in some areas and so right (or right enough) in others.So read the "Ring" to understand its and its author's deserved place in the history of behavioral sciences. Read it to increase your observational powers of your animal friends. But please do not read it as divine, ordained truth. Many thousands of scientists have since built on the foundations that Lorenz, Tinbergen, & Von Frisch built along with the contributions of Watson, Pavlov, Skinner, Hull, and others. (Serpell's "The Domestic Dog" provides a good source on more recent information about dogs.)

I am blown away and humbled to the fact of Lorenz's animal behavior observations is poetically impactful to my core values of a living entity. Thanks Lorenz for making me feel normal and just in my pursuit of my own happiness.

Lorenz's writing was very exciting and kept you interested. He shared funny real life experiences, and explained in a very interesting way about the relationship between man and animals. There were also great illustrations. Our student really enjoyed it.

A very personal and intriguing collection of stories from a pioneer in observation of animal behavior. Lorenz especially focuses on communication between animals. A highly interesting read.

If the scenes from a book stay with you for decades then it is a sign that the book must be really good. Konrad Lorenz won a noble prize for his work on animal behavior. He explained that one of his principles for studying animal behavior was to study them in the wild and not in captivity since that so strongly impacted their behavior. King Solomon's Ring talks, in popular language, about his studies of fish and birds in particular explaining the sometimes embarrassing lengths he went to in order to perform his studies. The result is an endearing and frequently amusing look at the animal world suitable for readers of any age.I had read this book when I was a kid and found Konrad Lorenz's stories about how he studied animal behavior to be charming. The illustrations are also perfect for the book although not effectively reproduced in the ebook edition.

Bouquin qui a fait l'objet d'une rubrique à la radio. Je l'ai offert pour la fête d'un ami. Très apprécié, dans le mille. Commande arrivée avant la date prévue, yé

The book gave me an entirely different way of looking at, and in my case, of understanding more deeply than superficially the natural world in which I am privileged to be living. I found the writing style of the author most enjoyable and easy to follow. In point of fact I am quite surprised that I have not heard of Konrad Lorenz before this time of over seventy-six years of my life-span - thus far and fortunately, still counting. Of course amongst the reasons for that aberration could well be that it is only in recent years that my interests in the natural world have become so compelling.

The book is great. For the price I would have preferred a much better binding and pages. If I knew the page quality then I would not have bought the book for Rs. 1200. The page quality is suitable for Rs 300 or lesser.

Of Course, the standard text on understanding birds, Never goes out of fashion Marjorie Hope Bundy (formerly Marjorie Hope Mitchell at school)