On Life and Living: Konrad Lorenz in Conversation With Kurt Mundl

by Konrad Lorenz

English (translation)Original German

Genres: Science, Biography

166 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded as one of the founders of modern ethology, developing an approach that began with an earlier generation, including his teacher Oskar Heinroth.
Lorenz studied instinctive behavior in animals, especially in greylag geese and jackdaws. Working with geese, he investigated the principle of imprinting, the process by which some nidifugous birds (i.e. birds that leave their nest early) bond instinctively with the first moving object that they see within the first hours of hatching. Although Lorenz did not discover the topic, he became widely known for his descriptions of imprinting as an instinctive bond. In 1936 he met Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen, and the two collaborated in developing ethology as a separate sub-discipline of biology. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Lorenz as the 65th most cited scholar of the 20th century in the technical psychology journals, introductory psychology textbooks, and survey responses.

Reviews

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conversations with one of the founders of discipline of behavioral science, Konrad Lorenz, about his life, his scientific studies, and the future of humankind. It includes prescient statements about the ecological catastrophes that may await humans if changes are not made in our behavior as well as some statements that are not PC at present.

[Cindy Dyson Eitelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to say--and be fair about it? He's a brilliant essayist, a courageous scientist, and wrote King Solomon's Ring which ought to be required reading in college or something.

But this...I didn't enjoy it much, after the first chapter or so. It wasn't anecdotal enough to suit me. There were a few personal notes but a whole lot more essaying. I wanted to know less of what he believed and more of why he'd come to believe. Missing the human perspective, it seemed a little dry.

On the other hand, it wasn't written by him so he didn't have be benefit of revision It was the answers to questions posed by Mr. Mundl, over an unspecified range of time and topics.

Best quote ever:
The collective stupidity of man is incredible.

[Orsolya Szabó · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book lacks Konrad Lorenz's style and charm - it gives us a peek into his work, the species he worked with, his beliefs, but it's rather dull for anyone who has read any of his books. I would recommend it to those who are new to ethology as an "appetizer" - read it and then search for the theme that grabbed your attention in the books that were written by him - I'm sure his friend Kurt Mundl meant well but in my opinion his style is not good enough in comparison to Lorenz's.