Foundations of Animal Behavior: Classic Papers with Commentaries

Beginning with Darwin's work in the 1870s, Foundations of Animal Behavior selects the most important works from the discipline's first hundred years—forty-four classic papers—and presents them in facsimile, tracing the development of the field. These papers are classics because they either founded a line of investigation, established a basic method, or provided a new approach to an important research question.

The papers are divided into six sections, each introduced by prominent researchers. Sections one and two cover the origins and history of the field and the emergence of basic methods and approaches. They provide a background for sections three through six, which focus on development and learning; neural and hormonal mechanisms of behavior; sensory processes, orientation, and communication; and the evolution of behavior.

This outstanding collection will serve as the basis for undergraduate and graduate seminars and as a reference for researchers in animal behavior, whether they focus on ethology, behavioral ecology, comparative psychology, or anthropology.

Published in association with the Animal Behavior Society

Highlighting more than a century of research, from Darwin's work in the 1870s to major contributions of the early 1970s, Foundations and Animals Behavior presents fourty-four classic papers in facsimile. These papers are classics because they either founded a line of investigation, established a basic method, or provided a new way of thinking about an important problem in studies of animal behavior. The papers are divided into six sections, each introduced by prominent researchers in that area. Sections one and two cover the origins and history of the field and the emergence of basic methods and approaches to studying animal behavior, providing a background for sections three through six, which focus on the specific subfields of development and learning; neural and hormonal mechanisms of behavior; sensory processes, orientation, and communication; and the revolution of behavior. This outstanding collection will serve as the basis for undergraduate and graduate seminars and as a reference for researchers in animal behavior, whether they focus on ethology, behavioral ecology, comparative psychology, or anthropology.