Niko's Nature: A Life of Niko Tinbergen and His Science of Animal Behaviour Book

This wonderful biography is written by one of Tinbergen's students. It offers a very lively overview of the origins of ethology. The title seems to refer both to the nature that Tinbergen and to Tinburgen's own nature. Tinbergen the person is presented in a complex three dimensional way.By the end I felt almost as though I knew him. That is not to say that I felt that I understood him. Particularly compelling for me was the way in which Kruuk portrayed the impact of Tinbergen's episodes of severe depression. It is a story of great triumph, but in the end a sad one.