The Discovery of Animal Behaviour

The strongest part of the book is the history of the naturalists that discovered the behavior. From Aristotle's Historia Animalium to Medieval Bestiaries the interpretation of behavior is tied to the culture of the time. The Phoenix example provides curiously stretched natural history blended with theology. Into more recent times he cites Darwins example of studying behavior as well as Pavlov. For the behavioral psychologist, the names of Thorndike, James Watson (who curiously left science for advertising), B.F. Skimmer,and Harry Harlow are presented. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the heyday of ethology research from von Fisch's discovery of honey bee dances, to Konrad Lorenz's imprinted geese, and Niko Tinbergen's study of gulls. Throughout the book are superb pictures, from all classes of animals, illustrating the animals associated with the researchers or the principles discussed. Perhaps somewhat lacking is the discussion of some of the components of animal behavior, as causation, development, evolution, and function.