Animal days

by Desmond Morris

Geïllustreerd / Illustrated / Illustré / Illustriert / / Biology / Engels / English / Anglais / Englisch / hard cover / dust jacket / 22 x 14 cm / 275 .pp /

Genres: Animals, Science, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography

275 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Desmond John Morris (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book The Naked Ape, and for his television programmes such as Zoo Time.

Reviews

[Matteo Negro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desmond Morris è senza alcun dubbio uno dei più grandi zoologi viventi, grande divulgatore e scienziato di fama internazionale, principale esponente della sociobiologia. E’ inoltre autore di innumerevoli saggi tra i quali spicca il best seller “La scimmia nuda”, pubblicato nel 1967. In quell’importantissimo saggio Morris per la prima volta adotto l’approccio scientifico utilizzato in zoologia per studiare il comportamento di una specie molto particolare, l’uomo! Morris ne "La mia vita con gli animali" ripercorre con grandissima ironia le prime tappe della sua lunghissima carriera professionale. Leggendo questo saggio ci si rende conto di quanto l’ambiente intellettuale inglese a cavallo della seconda guerra mondiale fosse incredibilmente ricco di stimoli. Morris ebbe come maestro niente poco di meno che Niko Timbergen, conobbe e si confrontò con i pilastri della nascente etologia come Kondrad Lorenz e Karl von Frisch. In quel periodo non conobbe solo grandi uomini; grazie al suo impiego come conservatore presso lo Zoo di Londra si confrontò con una schiera infinita di altri animali, dai serpenti alle scimmie, dai panda alle tartarughe giganti. L’attenta e acuta osservazione dei loro comportamenti permise a Morris di fare importanti scoperte fondamentali per comprendere meglio non solo la loro natura ma anche quella dell’uomo. Infine, non possiamo non sottolineare che Morris fu uno dei primi scienziati a capire il valore e l’importanza della divulgazione scientifica per stimolare l’interesse delle persone comuni di fronte alle meraviglie della natura. Per raggiungere questo scopo presentò per la prima volta in televisione un programma in cui si mostravano animali dal vivo, dai più comuni a quelli esotici. Questo saggio è assolutamente consigliato a tutti gli amanti della natura e della scienza.

[Zareen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling, stimulating,immensely readable.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had problems stopping reading this book this weekend & shall miss it now that I completed reading the account of Desmond Morris’ encounter with animals. It is illustrated.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange mixture of interesting, tedious, and arrogant. While I admired his thinking, I don't think I'll ever be tempted to read any of his other books.

[Pedro Freire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, very entertaining autobiography, full of animal stories.

[Judith Falkner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very entertaining read, written whilst the author was still a young man. An update is long overdue.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autobiography. He name drops alot, which I don't like, but I guess without it you might not realise how much of a cool dude he is (where is that sarcasm font...). Luckily I already liked Morris, so I'll forgive him his vanity. This book details his life up till leaving the London Zoo, follows him through his uni days and recounts funny stories from his academic life and career in the Zoo. Morris wrote a book I really enjoyed called The Human Zoo which looked at human behaviour from a Zoologist’s point of view.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting this to be a hard read but in reality it was spectacular; I laughed, I learnt and I was emotionally effected. If you like zoology and comedy this is THE book for you and I actually think it's given me a direction in life, although he has probably given me high standards with it. This book will remain a firm favourite and the stories will be read as a 'pick me up' when it's needed. I almost feel as though I need to thank Morris for his biography.

[♥ Joy Joy ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had pretty good moments of hilarity. I found myself actually laughing out loud, which was a little embarrassing seeing as I was in public a couple times it happened. Aside from the humor, it was very informative and eye opening in regards to the various fields he worked in throughout his life.

[Emily F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Made me laugh constantly. Wish Desmond Morris were my grandfather.

[Barbara Hawley]

I love animals so of course I loved these stories. It made me look up other animal trivia, and I love when a book piques my interest.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 2 out of 5]

C. nonfiction, contemporary, mom's stash, discard