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Saturday, November 10, 2007

Channeling Desmond Morris

Reading Desmond Morris's autobiographical book: Watching: Encounters with Humans and other Animals. Back in 1969 I was reading his 'The Naked Ape' about the very broad variety of human behavior. I had also been reading Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen at the time. One riff certainly influenced the other, I was much impressed by the Naked Ape, a best seller at the time. Made me look at animals and humans in a very different way. Even made me think, briefly, of studying in this field. I have not read any of his half dozen interim books but chanced on this one at the library. Although I read many bios, I was not quite ready to read this 600 plus page biography. It started slow.

Much to my surprise I found this very enjoyable and often funny. His description of a trip through France with a number of eminent biologists, including co-Nobelists Lorenz and Frish is very funny. Later he describes the animal behavior encounters he had with his live Zoo show in Britain in the late 50s, which made him a celebrity of the time.

Still reading, and will likely finish, recommended if you have interest in the subject.

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