Customer Reviews

King Solomon's Ring: New Light on Animals' Ways

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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"It has been theorized that cats which present dead mice to their owners, and which play with live mice in front of their owners, are not seeking approval. Rather, they are attempting to teach their oversized, deformed, clumsy, learning-impaired two-legged kittens how to make a living. They are responsible for your welfare, after all." This is just one of the many theories found in Konrad Lorenz's "King Solomon's Ring." In his book, Lorenz shows how some kinds of behavior are governed by the same process of natural selection as governs physical development. Animal behavior is absolutely fascinating. If you've never read Konrad Lorenz's "King Solomon's Ring", buy a paper copy. It may very well change your view of animals for the rest of your life. More and more you will appreciate the complex things that go on as you watch animals. This book is easy-reading and is filled with humor. I recommend it to all ages of animal lovers.

In readable, friendly style, Konrad Lorenz uses illustrations from his everyday life among animals of all kinds to illustrate a variety of fascinating points. The balance between anecdotes and theory is well handled and the book stands out both as education and as entertainment. I find the sections dealing with keeping animals in captivity especially worthwhile - Lorenz explains clearly and concisely why most people feel sorry for captive animals for all the wrong reasons, this section should be required reading for most people who think that they are promoting 'animal rights'. Highly recommended.

Confession - I'd never heard of Konrad Lorenz (even though he won the Nobel Prize in 1973), and I don't usually read books by Naturalists.

I was driving between business meetings during the day, when I happened to tune in to BBC Radio 4 (same as National Public Radio in the USA), and by accident caught a book reading of Chapter 10 regarding Dogs. Then on another day I caught Chapter 11 on Birds. Captivated, I actually pulled over so that I could hear the whole chapter & find out what the book was and who the Author was.

Then I ordered the book as a treat to myself for Christmas.

Fantastic! With some abridging 'on the fly', this book could even be read to/by a younger audience say down to 8 years old, who would enjoy, laugh & cry at some of the stories contained herein.

I wish my science teacher had read this to me when I was 8, rather than do some silly experiments with boring pond life (Chapter 2 would have taught me more about Pond Life)!

This is a gem of a book. Written by the father of ethology, the study of animal behavior in nature, it provides a surprising amount of fascinating information in such a small book. He covers a variety of animals, both domestic and wild, and a number of issues, such as breeding behavior and aggression. I read this book twice, the first time I whipped through it. Only after I read it more deeply the second time did I realize just how much is covered. It's a short book, with nice drawings and cute stories. So everyone should read this book. Even if you don't think animal behavior interests you, you might be surprised and this is the book that will get you hooked on the subject.

I first read this book in college and thought it was okay, easy to read, friendly style, not too scientfic. But as the years have passed it is one of those readings that has stayed with me and been useful in my everyday life. I've even had a copy sent to my son who loves his fish tanks. I've grown up around animals, but since reading this book I see the actions of animals as so closely related to ourselves. To know that birds mate for life, makes listening to birds call each other so much more romantic. To know that even fish have mating rituals makes my own rituals that much better and acceptable. This book has given me that perspective for some 15 years, I can say it has definitely changed the way I have viewed the world, thus the way I have lived in the world- and for the better.

This book is true to Lorenz' style - humorous, intelligent, large hearted and adventurous. Besides being entertained, I came away with humility borne of the knowledge that human beings aren't truly supreme. Even the littlest fish exhibits interesting thought processes and overriding maternal extincts. One just has to look hard enough!

I read this book while in high school and it prompted me to explore zoology. I recieved a BS in Zoology in 1969 and haven't looked back since. I suggest any parent to give this book to their child/children....it is mesmerizing. I now have geese to share with my grandchild and she dearly loves them.

I read Lorenz's book when I was a boy and have never forgotten it, except now that reading it again I see that any number of the animal facts I would spout to people, giving Lorenz as my reference, are severe distortions of his positions. I would tell people, for example, that lambs and sheep are totally different species, and in citing Lorenz I now realize he said nothing of the sort. One of the great things about KING SOLOMON'S RING is how many species it treats. We also had to read an earlier book by Lorenz, in which he discussed only dogs and how to train them. Did you know that Konrad Lorenz was the first scientist to discover that in every pacxk of dogs (even in any pair of two dogs) one dog will be the so-called "alpha male," even when they are technically female? Lorenz was a scientist, a trained observer, but he also had a big heart and this spills out into his books.

They are each of them veritable fountains of good writing and common sense, though sometimes he goes overboard in his enthusiasm.

Some of the animals hje observed in his heyday are acting differently nowadays! I wonder if that is part of natural selection, or if they are being changed due to the ozone layer brteaking up and global warming. Even the patterns of birds' migrations are no longer the same, and they seem to be no longer travelling the immense distances we once thought they did (from Tierra del Fuego to the Maritimes, for example).

In other ways, although dated, KSR remains one of Konrad Lorenz's great accomplishments. I remember meeting him around the time the United Nations honored him for his work with animals. He was a humble man with a witty grin, and the flourish of one who should have been an actor in the movies.

I first read this marvelous little book while taking a Comparative Ethology class in graduate school. It is truly a classic book of animal behavior. His approach, in this book anyway, was more of a comical narrative of his experiences in the field of ethology; however, the stories will remain timeless.

I first read this book about 25 years ago and it has been my favorite re-read. If one loves animals, one cannot help but love Dr. Lorenz' stories. I highly recommend it.