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^ A DIOGRAPHY DY A $10.00 K0MR&D N A DjOGgAPHY BY m/mtt ali€ Thefirsr biographyofoneofthemost original, colorful and influential scientists in the field of ommol behavior Theworlds leading animal watcher is himself observed in on affectionate but not un- critical summation of his life his science, and his ideasand influence, all closely intertwined. Weseehimfirstasthesonofa powerfulfather, whowants him to study medicine rather than zoology, then a somewhat scorned discipline. Lorenzmanagestodoboth. Healsosucceeds, ogainst his fathers and her own resistance, m marrying the girl of his earliest choice, Gretl achieving o lasting and splendidlysym- biotic relationship. We see him as "mother" to goslings jackdaws, fish: as the discoverer of previously unrecognized principles govern- inganimal behavior: asan enormouslystimu- lating teacher—indeed, as one of the chief founders of the science of ethology, for which he was honored in 1973 with a Nobel prize. Through his publications, scientific as well as popular among them King Solomon's Ring and On Aggression, Konrad Lorenz achieved worldwide fame. He also became the center of controversy on o variety of issues, none of which ore skirted in this fair-minded account. Retired from his work at the Max Planck Institute of Behavioral Psychology in Bavaria, Konrad Lorenz took his geese with him to a newhomeinAustria, anold homefor himself. Lifehodcomefull circle. With 16pagesofblack-and-whitephotographs. \3- Digitized by the Internet Archive 2012 in http://archive.org/details/konradlorenzOOalec Konrad Lorenz Konrad Lorenz ALEC NISBETT SQ s A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book Harcourt Brace Jovanovich New York and London For my daughters Caroline <i"<l Sarah and my son Guy i opyrighl ' 1976 by Alec Nisbett \ll rights reserved. Nopart ofthispublicationmay be reproduced ortransmitted inanyformorbyanymeans, electronicormechanical,includingphotocopy,recording, oram information storageand retrievalsystem, without permission inwritingfrom thepublisher. Printed in the UnitedStatesofAmerica I il>rar\ of( ongressCatalogingin PublicationData Nisbett, Alec, konrad Lorenz. • A Helenand KurtWolffbook." Bibliography: p. Includesindex. 1. Lorenz, Konrad.2.Zoologists—Austria—Biography. QL31I76N57 1977 591'.09/24 [B] 76-29116 ISBN O-I5-I47286-6 1 irst American edition 1977 BCDE Contents Author's Foreword vii Introduction ix 1 Sketches from Life 1 2 Father and Son 13 Jackdaw Spring and Danube Summers 28 3 4 The Goose Years 43 5 Acceptance and Establishment 63 6 A Private War 77 7 The Eastern Front 92 8 The Second Spring 101 9 The Scientific Exile 112 10 The Message in the Animal 128 11 Aggression 146 12 The Sins of Social Man 168 13 Truth in the Round 184 The Homecoming 14 199 15 The Prophet at Home 217 Bibliography 225 Index 232 Illustrations ten pages 1 1 / and i / 5 l lu 1 orenz I louse .it Altenberg (Conrad, aged nine, eleven, and eighteen years. Photos courtesy K. Lorenz Vdoll Lorenz al seventy. Photo courtesy K. Lorenz Konrad Lorenz with ln's imprinted goslings and 'social corvidae'. Photo courtesy N. Tinbergen and K. Lorenz 1 In morning walk at Altenberg. Photo courtesy N. Tinbergen The Danube Eorest at Altenberg. Photo courtesy N. Tinbergen Gretl Lorenz as a young woman, and in 1973. Photo at top courtesy Hans Zeisel Man meets dog. Photo courtesy H. Kacher Experiment with a model mother goose Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen. Photo courtesy H. Kacher Konrad Lorenz receiving an honorary degree from Sir Peter Scott. Photo courtesy Birmingham University Goose girls at Griinau. Photo courtesy Radio Times (Dmitri Kasterine) The morning dip with imprinted geese at Seewiesen. Photo courtesy II. Kacher Charlie Thomforde with his imprinted charges at Griinau. Photo courtesy Radio Times (Dmitri Kasterine) A goose with a wounded wing. Photo courtesy Radio Times (Dmitri Kasterine) Exeunt. Photo courtesy H. Kacher The line drawings on the title page were originally intended to illustrate Animals as a Nuisance' in King Solomon's Ring but were never used. Adolf's tea-party' (p. 71) was drawn for the same book. Courtesy Peter Wait of Methuen and K. Lorenz. 'The Bird with the Silvery Eyes' (p. 31) and Babette' (p. 109) were sketched for the author in 1973. Courtesy K. Lorenz. vi