The animal psychologist Konrad Z. Lorenz (1903-1989) did much work in the field of the physiology of animal behavior and on the development of social relationships, particularly imprinting. He also explored the relationship between animal behavior and human sociology.

Konrad Z. Lorenz was born on November 7, 1903, in Altenberg, Austria. His father was already a world-renowned surgeon, having created a hip-joint operation procedure. Young Lorenz studied medicine at Columbia University and at the University of Vienna. In addition to his medical degree, he obtained the Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Vienna where in 1937 he was appointed lecturer in comparative anatomy and animal psychology. In 1940 he was appointed professor of comparative psychology and head of the department at the University of Konigsberg; however, in 1943 he was drafted into the German army as a psychiatrist. He was taken prisoner of war by the Russians in 1944 and released in...