University of Chicago Press Patterns of Behavior – Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen and the Founding of Ethology

Product Description It is hard to imagine, by their very name, the life sciences not involving the study of living things, but until the twentieth century much of what was known in the field was based primarily on specimens that had long before taken their last breaths. Only in the last century has ethology--the study of animal behavior--emerged as a major field of the life sciences. In Patterns of Behavior, Richard W. Burkhardt Jr. traces the scientific theories, practices, subjects, and settings integral to the construction of a discipline pivotal to our understanding of the diversity of life. Central to this tale are Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen, 1973 Nobel laureates whose research helped legitimize the field of ethology and bring international attention to the culture of behavioral research. Demonstrating how matters of practice, politics, and place all shaped ethology's ecologies, Burkhardt's book offers a sensitive reading of the complex interplay of the field's celebrated pioneers and a richly textured reconstruction of ethology's transformation from a quiet backwater of natural history to the forefront of the biological sciences. Winner of the 2006 Pfizer Awad from the History of Science Society Review Patterns of Behavior offers more than a nuanced history of the origins of ethology. The juxtaposition of the stories of Tinbergenand Lorenz provides an intriguing case study of how the advancement of scientific fields depends as much on the management of the social relations among scientists as on intellectual brilliance and institution-building.--Sharon Kingsland "Science" (7/8/2005 12:00:00 AM) A fascinating and often entertaining account of the life and work of some of ethology's key figures. Burkhardt has done a tremendous job, meticulously analysing and describing the rise of ethology. . . . In order to study the genomic or neural mechanisms of bevaviour, we need to know how behaviour works, and for that an ethological analysis is crucial. This wonderful book shows very clearly how early ethologists made such analysis possible. --Johan J. Bolhuis "Nature" (6/9/2005 12:00:00 AM) At last, a really excellent and complete account of ethology's checkered history. What emerges in Patterns of Behavior is a vivid demonstration that science is a human activity whose progress is influenced both by personality and by cultural context. This is a most distinguished contribution to the history of science.--Aubrey Manning, author of An Introduction to Animal Behavior Burkhardt beautifully describes both the human story and the science that has come out of it. An excellent book.--Colin Tudge "Biologist" (12/1/2005 12:00:00 AM) Burkhardt has written the definitive history of ethology. He has blended science and situation into a coherent and instructuve tale.--Donald A. Dewsbury "BJHS" (7/1/2006 12:00:00 AM) I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. . . . I am convinced that knowing the history of one's field makes for better instructors and so recommend that all students of aniumal behaviour read this book and most notably all those who teach it.--Luc-Alain Giraldeau "Ecoscience" (7/1/2006 12:00:00 AM) Not knowing one's roots is a common mistake in the early development of scientific disciplines, a problem that Burkhardt's thoughtful, comprehensive and readable book should help to resolve. It should be read by all animal behaviour researchers to help put their own efforts into perspective.--Michael Taborsky "TREE" (12/1/2005 12:00:00 AM) The most authoritative history of the field of ethology... A remarkable achievement. It brings together an immense amount of material in a scholarly, yet very readable, format. It also catches the enthusiasm of the participants in putting forward new ways of thinking about old problems, as well as some of the more acrimonious debates about particular issues. --Jerry A. Hogan "Ethology" (7/1/2006 12:00:00 AM) This excellent book reads like a novel. . . . The author reconstructs the to