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good book
offers insight into studies done on the subject matter. Very interesting and applicable in day to day life. Glad I purchased.

Extremely Well Written and Original Work of Famous Scientist
On Aggression (Routledge Classics)
The book gives you an interesting and convincing explanation of the origin of aggression in humans. The same as Darwin's theory of human origin, it is not flattering. Therefore it was not taken well initially. As far as I know there is no other constructive explanation.
Understanding animal behavior can help understanding humans because some of the basic rules of operation still apply. Author illustrates his hypothesis with multiple very interesting examples of animal and human behavior. If you want to find a way of understanding and accepting us the way we are or simply looking for fun reading or for a hope for humanity, it is a good place to start the quest.

Important Work
As much as this book has diminished in scientific importance of the many years since it was first published, it has gained as much, if not more, importance as a historical work.Even though this field has passed up the originator his work still stands as monument of scientific achievement.

The strange aspect of science is the fact that many times the most important scientists in any given field are those that failed.It is these men and women who have done the laborious field work plus the countless hours sifting through and analyzing data to come up with sound conclusions.Well I don't think with Konrad Lorenz's achievements anyone would call him a failure, but even though many of his conclusions have become antiquated it was his work that created the foundation for all those who have come after this giant.His work advanced this his field by decades.

So in the end, don't read Konrad Lorenz to understand the world and ethology as it stands today, but instead to understand how we came to this point of achievement now.Read this book to understand the history of this field of science and research, and to understand where and how it came about.This man was a pioneer, and without his tireless effort and devotion our understanding of our environment and ourselves would years behind.This is an important work that still needs to be read.

Lorenz was wrong
Konrad Lorenz proposed in "On Aggression" the theory that the violence is something good and necessary for all the animals. Unfortunately, Lorenz had a big knowledge about animals, but he didn't have the same wisdom about human behavior. Erich Fromm, in his great book "The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness", made a total critique of the theories that Lorenz proposed in"On Aggression". And, no doubt,From was right and Lorenz was wrong.

Fromm realized that Lorenz didn't see that in the humans there are two different types of aggression, no only one. The first type has, like in the animals, the objective of the auto-defense. But, he second type has the objective of the destruction. The violence of the Hitler and the nazis wasn't defensive, was destructive, egomaniac and evildoer. Lorenz only was conscious of the first type, but never saw the second, evil, type. The human violence is more complicated than Lorenz thought. It is impossible understand this theme only studying ducks and rats. To understand the human behavior it's necessary study history, psychology and religion, as Fromm did.

If you are interested in the human violence you must read two great books of Erich Fromm: "Escape from Freedom" and "Anatomy of Human Destructiveness".
Richard Dawkins is another writer who, in his book "The Selfish Gene", has made critics to Lorenz's positive vision of violence postulated in "On Aggression".

vast amount of thinking and experience went into it
A lifetime of thinking, research, and observation clearly went into creating this marvelous book.I like it when someone clearly cares about what he's doing, engrosses himself in his work, possibly to the point of obsession.This may well describe Lorenz and this classic book, who defends Darwin and to some degree Freud, among others.Not just about his first hand observations of animals and his interpretation of their behavior, the book extends its scope to include philosophy and history, especially the evolutionary underpinnings of human history.It is rich in detail and very well written.A must read for anyone who cares about the past and future of living things on this planet.Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health. ... Read more

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In this wonderful book, the famous scientist and best-selling author, Konrad Lorenz, "the man who talked with animals," enlightens and entertains us with his illustrated account of the unique relationship between humans and their pets. ... Read more

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For lovers of dogs and other critters

Konrad Lorenz was one of the first scientists to give credability to those dog lovers who said "my dog understands every word I say" and to acknowledge that dogs have a fine tuned intelligence as well as emotions very like our own.He used his own family of dogs and lived with many animals in his own home during his years as an ethologist studying animal behavior and wrote about his findings in an entertaining and lively way.It is a fast and delightful read.

You'll never look at your cat or dog the same way again
So many subsequent books on animal behaviour have quoted this book and no wonder. He has such a love of his subjects and it shines through his observations one their day to day behaviour to one another and to their human companions.
If you've ever looked at your pet and asked, "Why did he do that?" Then read this book.

The animal is still present in man, but man never in animal
K.Lorenz starts his book with speculative thoughts about the beginnings of the domestication (= symbiosis) of dogs (most species descend from jackals, not wolves), but then continues with personal reflections on animal behavior and the animal mind (not only of dogs, but also of cats, bears, monkeys, wolves and ... men).
He paints brilliantly innate animal behavior (removal of the umbilical cord, fight and flight distances, expressions, the importance of the gaze or the hunting and fighting lust) and shows the basis and norms of the animal mind and animal intelligence (like their understanding of spoken words).
Animal fidelity is an expression of the tie between mother and young and the tie with the pack-leader (pack loyalty). Some species however have more pack leaders than followers and show a more independent behavior.
The meaning of particular signals is determined by innate instinctive norms of action and reaction. Other important factors are ranking order and chivalrous treatment of females and puppies.
The act of killing in a beast of prey is entirely free from hatred.

K. Lorenz complains rightly that animals are deprived of rights, not only by the letter of the law, but also by people's insensitivity. For him, F. Nietzsche's word - `Let it be your aim always to love more than the other, never to be second' - should be the golden rule.

A very worthwhile read.

dad of the ethology
Sometimes people think they know everything about animal behavior just because they are behaviorist. I am an animal behaviorist and worked for 5 years. Trust me you will learn so many things about dogs in this book. Konrad Lorenz is the dad of the ethology, he learned so much just by observing his own dogs all his life. In this book, he is telling you stories, you will meet Stacy the most intelligent dog in his life, Wolf the most feared in the dogs' world, you will learn what happens when too dogs meet each other, the difference between wolf and jackal, how men meet dog at the very beginning....
In every case, you will never be disappointed by Konrad Lorenz.

It could easily have been titled Man's Best Friend
I found the book hugely entertaining and thought provoking, so much so I have embarked on my own scientific investigations with the family pet. I had already come across Konrad Lorenz and his famous work on geese whilst at University. I was intrigued at the thought of reviewing some of his insights in a more readable fashion, and from the first page onwards I was thoroughly entranced. Definitely an "Everyman" book. ... Read more

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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 -- this is a wonderfully written introduction to the world of our furred and feathered friends! ... Read more

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Book Review
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.

5 stars for significance, charm; 4 stars for accuracy
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.)

Truly filled with wonder
"Without supernatural assistance, our fellow creatures can tell us the most beautiful stories, and that means true stories, because the truth about nature is always far more beautiful even than what our great poets sing of it, and they are the only real magicians that exist."This book is wonderful in the original sense of that word, filled with wonder, and this quote from the Preface explains one reason this is so.Another reason is the sense that one is sitting peacefully on a pleasant evening while a true raconteur quietly meanders through his unexpectedly mesmerizing tales.

I originally picked up this book looking for material to liven up a natural history essay on shrews; those tiny overlooked but wide-spread creatures better known as metaphors than animals.This classic book from a legendary naturalist includes one of the very few bits of writing on shrews outside formal scientific literature.Surely, I thought, Lorenz would have something interesting to say.In fact, he had many interesting things to say on shrews.After finding that he could tell an entertaining and informative tale that brought these apparently unexciting animals to life on the page, I naturally had to start back at the beginning and read the book through.

Each chapter treats a different topic and can stands on its own.But read together they bring an understanding greater than their sum.Lorenz's skilled storytelling gradually reveals that what at first appeared to be many different threads are all actually part of one wonderful fabric.

Reader's review
I had the very good fortune to meet Konrad Lorenz at Duke University in 1961. He was arguably the best student of animal behaviour in the 20th century and along with his students led his field to new heights. The book has popular appeal is highly instructive and is filled with humour. If nothing else everybody - and I mean everybody! - should read the chapter on laughing at (really with) animals. May he rest in peace.

A charming book...humourous, yet to the point
Konrad Lorenz, though I've never heard of him, captivated me from the first page. He relates himself to King Solomon, who talked to animals through the use of a magic ring. From there on, he goes to explain animals and their behaviour, how it has affected him, and the passion and joy they can bring into one's life.
His description of animal behaviour is also not solely for scientists. In fact, it is Lorenz's language that is the most astounding. He is able to convey all the complex ideas of animals behaviour into simple terms which all readers can understand.
This is a great book for everyone, filled with passion by a man who loved who and what he was. ... Read more

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...common sense from a biologist...
An excellent book and I think, from an unlikely source. We know Lorenz for his flock of goslins and his Nobel Prize and I thought this was going to be another "we are raping the earth" book. Not so, he is not some foggy headed crypto-enviro comentator.

Man is indeed headed in a destructive direction in many ways but Lorenz gives us hope and insight.

The One Book Everybody Should Read
In this little book Konrad Lorenz has summarized all the major social and environmental problems of our era and every previous one, for that matter.The principle flaws in our contemporary world view, which he does not quite articulate, are that exponential growth is not sustainable and that technology reaches a point of diminishing returns.

His research on "imprinting" identity (discussed in greater detail in some of his other books) should be studied very carefully by all who consider themselves "American."They may conclude that this does not make them members of a nation-state, but rather pawns to be manipulated by a ruthless, global financial and political elite.

If the human species survives the perils of the age of technology and achieves liberation from exploitation, it will be because it heeded the wisdom of an Austrian psychologist who understood how much people are like geese. ... Read more

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Lorenz examines the nature of human thought and intelligence and attributes the problems of modern civilization largely to the limitations. ... Read more

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Anger and frustration by Nobel winner
An interesting overview by a Nobel Prize of the way he would remake human nature, if he had been able; as the way it ought to have been. His earlier books such as "King Solomon's Ring" and "Man meets Dog {as well as giggles about women and cats, both unmentioned in the title} were pot-boilers for the street with some excellent observations about fish and birds, but dubious and/or nonsense poking fun about dogs and humans - which in my opinion forewarned of his attitude about humans and dogs to fit marketing and ideology preferences - precursors of "Behind the Mirror ... "The book can have immense value to researchers of the history of animal behavioral research.

Great book(Nobel Prize not revoked)
A great book by a great writer. however Konrad Lorenz Nobel Prize was never revoked. The prize can not be revoked. (www.aftenposten.no/english/world/article327396.ece) This is an urban legend.

Absolutely brilliant
I have been a great admirer of Konrad Lorenz's works for many years and this book is one of his finest.

Some of his works are written more for the lay audience and are full of wonderful animal stories.Some are more scientific-- and when tranlated from the rigorous scientific German in which they were written-- are not quick and easy reads.That said, the reader who is willing to engage with the great intellect on display here will be greatly rewarded.

PS:Regarding the prior review, I did not know his Nobel was revoked.What was the reason?

Essential! Order this book so it gets back in print soon!
Konrad Lorenz hasn't recieved the praise his mind deserves. All political leanings aside--he had a nobel prize awarded and revoked--he is a brilliant thinker with essential theories on zoology and the meaning of life. This book outlines some of his early work with animal behavior. His work with ducks and geese and imprinting is phenomenal. It's amazing how thorough this man studied so many different creatures. And what's more is he never interfered with their habitats, he only observed what they would do without human tampering. In some ways he was an early conservationist and environmentalist.

To understand the implications of animal behavior for our own lives and what it means to the way we think, act and are, you must read this book. Lorenz should be up there right under Darwin in importance.

Unfortunately, this book is hard to find. I have a very old copy that I am lucky to find. Here I see it says that it's out of print. Please order this book. You will not be let down. And meanwhile you will help create demand for a book that should be on the shelves of all the bookstores both cyber and corporeal. ... Read more

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The true story of a boy who loved animals and grew up to be a man who loved to learn about them
Elaine Greenstein's THE GOOSE MAN: THE STORY OF KONRAD LORENZ tells the true story of a boy who loved animals and grew up to be a man who loved to learn about them. His passion would lead to him becoming a scientist and sharing his knowledge with the world - and THE GOOSE MAN gently recounts his experience.
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Excellent book; Amazon is the Best!
Dealing with Amazon is always a positive experience.Prompt delivery of excellent merchandise.I knew what I wanted; found it; and purchased it at a great price. Thank you. ... Read more

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Soap writers have nothing on Lorenz!
This book is a piece of academic research, and at times it is hard to follow if you do not have the scientific background necessary.However, there are sections in this book more entertaining that network TV.When you read about the disagreements, battles, breakups, infidelities and romances that take place in a community of Greylag geese, you'd think you are reading a script for a new daytime soap opera.Konrad Lorenz could have easily moonlighted as a Hollywood writer.In addition to the hilarious antics of the geese, I finished the book with certainly more knowledge than before,and with a sense of admiration for these animals and the humans who painstakingly observed them. ... Read more

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edited from the author's posthumous works by Agnes von Cranachtranslated by Robert D. MartinHere Am I Where Are You?: The Behavior of the Greylag Goose was thought to be Konrad Lorenz's last book. However, in 1991 the "Russian Manuscript" was discovered in an attic, and its subsequent publication in German has become a scientific sensation. Written under the most extreme conditions in Soviet prison camps, the "Russian Manuscript" was the first outline of a large-scale work on behavioral science. This translation contains a synopsis of all the ideas that made Lorenz famous as the founder of ethology, the study of comparative animal behavior. ... Read more

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highly important
One of the most important contributions to the history of ethology and philosophy of biology; we should rediscover it.

Numerous fallacies overtaken by new research
Entertaining portrayal of an ideologue foisting his 3d Reich views on human-kind. Many fallacies disclosed by later research ... Read more