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Solomon, the legend goes, had a magic ring which enabled him to speak to the animals in their own language. Konrad Lorenz was gifted with a similar power of understanding the animal world. He was that rare beast, a brilliant scientist who could write (and indeed draw) beautifully. He did more than any other person to establish and popularize the study of how animals behave, receiving a Nobel Prize for his work. King Solomon's Ring, the book which brought him worldwide recognition, is 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. Charmingly illustrated by Lorenz himself, this book is a wonderfully written introduction to the world of our furred and feathered friends, a world which often provides an uncanny resemblance to our own. A must for any animal-lover!… (more)
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“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
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.