The perception of exotic nature had a relevant influence on applied zoology in Europe in the second half of the eighteenth century and in the first half of the nineteenth century. The examples provided show how the perception of wild animals was influenced by contemporary philosophy. The author Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre reached a sentimental view of nature during his stay at Ile de France, now Mauritius. During his direction of the Jardin du Roi in Paris he advocated for the (...) creation of a new type of a scientific and educational menagerie. His ideas of how to keep wild animals in captivity were applied at the menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes which was opened in 1794. After a stay in Sumatra and Java the British civil servant Thomas Stamford Raffles founded the Zoological Society (1826) and the Zoological Gardens in Regents Park (1828). In Germany the founder of the Berlin Zoo (1844), the first director of the Hamburg Zoo (1863) and of the Berlin Aquarium (1867), the first scientific director of Frankfurt Zoo (1859-64) all had first hand experience of exotic nature. (shrink)

One of science's greatest intellects examines how people and animals display fear, anger, and pleasure. Darwin based this 1872 study on his personal observations, which anticipated later findings in neuroscience. Abounding in anecdotes and literary quotations, the book is illustrated with 21 figures and seven photographic plates. Its direct approach, accessible to professionals and amateurs alike, continues to inspire and inform modern research in psychology.

Investigators of animal behavior since the eighteenth century have sought to make their work integral to the enterprises of natural history and/or the life sciences. In their efforts to do so, they have frequently based their claims of authority on the advantages offered by the special places where they have conducted their research. The zoo, the laboratory, and the field have been major settings for animal behavior studies. The issue of the relative advantages of these different sites has been a (...) persistent one in the history of animal behavior studies up to and including the work of the ethologists of the twentieth century. (shrink)