Books That Influenced Me The Most

gentle lemur

gentle lemur

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15+ year member
I have stolen this title from one of Darren Naish's recent Tetrapod Zoology blogs. It reminded me that I had thought of posting something similar here; then on top of that, the thread about mountain beavers at Regent's Park made me recall a book by Desmond Morris published in 1965, which I probably haven't seen since 1970 - but it had obviously influenced me, as I could recall one of the illustrations 47 years later.
I would nominate the following, more or less in the order that I read them:-
The Bafut Beagles by Gerald Durrell (the first of his books that I read)
King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz (translated from German)
Mammals of the World by Hans Hvass (translated from German)
Galapagos by Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (translated from German)
All About Tropical Fish by Derek McInery & Geoffrey Gerard
The Year of the Gorilla by George Schaller
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
I still own all of them - except the first, because I read my father's copy.

There are three more books which I coveted and borrowed regularly from libraries, but could not afford to buy. Years later through Abebooks and Amazon, I have been able to purchase second-hand copies (much as I normally prefer new books).
Freshwater Fishes of the World by Günther Sterba (translated)
The Cichlid Fishes of the Great Lakes of Africa by Geoffrey Fryer & T D Iles
And recently I purchased a copy of a book that I almost bought in 1967 with my first week's wages from my holiday job, and then spent nearly 50 years regretting that I hadn't. It inspired me to keep fish, to observe them and to try to photograph them.
Tropical Aquarium Fish, their habits and breeding behaviour by Arend van den Nieuwenhuizen (translated from Dutch). You can tell how much I admire the author, because after all this time, when I started to search for a copy I immediately spelled his name correctly:)

Can other ZooChatters nominate a similar Top 10 books?
 
I tried for ten but off the top of my head only got to five. I may re-visit the thread later. All books are ones from when I was young, as is probably required for the thread's title. And in no great order, but rather just as I think of them as I write:

1) Walker's Mammals of the World - almost the sole reason I went to Flores later in life was to look for the Flores Giant Rat, which I had only ever read about in this book.

2) Parrots of the World by Joseph Forshaw and William Cooper - I read this entire book cover to cover multiple times. I think it may have been the second or third edition. The Flores Hanging Parrot with its intriguing lack of information, was the second reason I wanted to go to Flores.

3) The Bafut Beagles - really any of the Durrell books, although I wasn't keen on the Corfu ones as a boy, but this one was (I think) the first one I read.

4) Willard Price's ... Adventure series. I couldn't pick one as being influential, but as a whole they made me want to be an animal collector. That didn't happen.

5) similarly, Attenborough's Zoo Quest series. It seems I really liked animal collecting for zoos!


I had the fish books by Sterba (my favourite one), as well as the McInerny and Gerard one. Also another favourite fish book was a German dictionary-encyclopedia one, probably from somewhere between the 1940s and 1960s, of which I cannot remember the name or author.
 
The Stationary Ark by Gerald Durrell
A Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell
Wildlife Tame but Free by H. G. Hurrell
As the Falcon her Bells by Philip Gasier
Owls by Sparks and Soper
King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz
Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World by L. Brown and D. Amadon
 
Carl Jones said:
The Stationary Ark by Gerald Durrell
A Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell
Wildlife Tame but Free by H. G. Hurrell
As the Falcon her Bells by Philip Gasier
Owls by Sparks and Soper
King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz
Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World by L. Brown and D. Amadon
Click to expand...

I could argue that I was influenced by authors as much as by individual books they wrote. You can add Desmond Morris and Ronald Lockley as influential authors. I was also deeply influenced by the Collins New Naturalist series that are still favourites.
 
The main book that really influenced me was Wild Life of the World by Dr. Maurice Burton as I was given it at a very young age and its actually one of my first memories being given this book and would just look spend time looking at the pictures.
Other books I have read which have taken an influence on me are:
Jeremy and Amy: The True Story of One Man and His Orang-utan by Jeremy Keeling
Chimps with Everything by Molly Badham
Our Zoo by June Williams
Dublin Zoo: The Illustrated History by Catherine de Courcy
 
Urban Foxes by Stephen Harris. One of the first 'grown-up' natural history books I read, and still a favourite of mine.
 
British Zoos: A Study of Animals in Captivity (Geoffrey Schomberg; 1957)

As a Londoner, I visited London Zoo regularly throughout my childhood (and, somewhat less frequently, Whipsnade Zoo and Chessington Zoo too).

Reading this book as a young child introduced me to the other zoos in Britain and made me want to visit these too.

The Zoo Story (L. R. Brightwell; 1952)

This book, which is a slightly updated version of Brightwell’s earlier book The Zoo You Knew? (1936), was the first book about London Zoo’s history that I read.

It is certainly not the most authoritative book on the topic, there are several better ones, but it is an enjoyable read and it was responsible for triggering my interest in zoo history in general and the history of London Zoo in particular.

List of the Vertebrated Animals Exhibited in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London 1828 – 1927: Centenary Edition (1929)

Vol 1 Mammals (by S. S. Flower)
Vol 2 Birds (by G. Carmichael Low)
Vol 3 Reptiles (by S. S. Flower); Amphibians (by Malcolm A. Smith); Fishes (by E.G. Boulenger)

As mentioned above, it was Brightwell that inspired my interest in zoo history but it was this three volume set that made me appreciate just how rich the ZSL collections were and made me want to find out more about its history.

The Bafut Beagles (Gerald Durrell, 1954)

Two previous contributors to this thread commented that it was the first Gerald Durrell book that they had read; by coincidence, it was also the first of his books I read and I then went on to read all the others.

Meet the Mammals (Clinton Keeling; 1962)

The only book on my list that was written specifically for children and reading this certainly stimulated my childhood interest in animals.

(Little did I realise when I read this book as a young child that, years later, I would meet the author, join two of the zoological societies he founded and that we would become friends.)

Walker’s Mammals of the World (various editions)

This was my main reference work on mammals for many years and I still have copies of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th editions. These days it has really been superseded by the Handbook of Mammals of the World but it is still a particular favourite of mine.

On the Track of Unknown Animals (Bernard Heuvelmans; English Translation, 1958)

Reading this book inspired my childhood interest in mystery animals and the hope that there were still exciting species awaiting discovery. Sadly these days I am much more sceptical about the existence of most cryptozoological animals ……….
 
In addition to my last post, many guidebooks inspired me when I was young, especially the Copenhagen Zoo guide-book which in my opinion was the best guide-book that I have ever read. I have made many fan-guidebooks of different zoos based off the lay-out of this zoo-guide.
 
The way books inspired me to have and interest in animals and zoos was a rather odd one.I remember from a young age that I would read lots of dinosaur encyclopedias and my love of dinosaurs was the inspiration that got me to my interest today.There is something about watching a crocodile or Komodo dragon at a zoo that gives off that prehistoric feeling.
 
Crowthorne said:
Urban Foxes by Stephen Harris. One of the first 'grown-up' natural history books I read, and still a favourite of mine.
Click to expand...
Stephen Harris was a lecturer of mine at university, he was quite anti-zoo and sceptical of captive breeding in zoos.
 
Books that influenced me;

African Adventure by Willard Price. The Adventure series of books got me into reading and inspired a sense of excitement as regards to wildlife. African Adventure was the book that introduced me to the series.

Golden Days: Historic Photographs from London Zoo, Zuckerman. Many zoo guides I had were influential in my interest in zoos, this book probably did more than any to spark an interest in zoo history.

Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck. A passion I have out side of zoos are the writings of Steinbeck. He had a keen interest in the natural world (reflected in his friendship with biologist Ed Ricketts), especially the word of tide-pools which some of his books were based around. In the book Cannery Row he writes that an observer of the town's inhabitants would see
"whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches,' by which he meant everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, 'saints and angels and martyrs and holy men,' and he would have meant the same thing.”
This is not only an observation of human nature (we're all whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches and equally we're all saints and angels and martyrs and holy men) but it also evokes the image of some one peering into a tide-pool and observing its colourful charters. Having had toe zoochatters touring California recently (Snowleopard even mentioning the town of Salinas), I had hoped Steinbeck might also get a mention.

It doesn't have to be like this, David Ike. The much derided David Ike wrote this enlightening book, then began wearing yellow tracksuits and talking about aliens, and ruined it all. After reading this book I joined the Green Party and started campaigning. These days I'm no longer a member of the green party but my interest environmental issues has stayed with me

Life on earth, Attenborough. I'm cheating slightly here as it was the tv series that had the initial impact on me but everything Attenborough has written or presented, from Zoo Quest on wards, has been influential in my life.
 
One great book for Zoochatters young and old is:

The Katurran Odyssey, D.M. Wieger, T. Whitlatch
The Katurran Odyssey: David Michael Wieger, Terryl Whitlatch: 9780743225007: Amazon.com: Books

It is incredible collection of animal art, wrapped as an adventure book. Google some plates online.

There is a young ring-tailed lemur, an evil aye-aye priest, a trade town full of all the different mammals, an opulent empire of golden snub-nosed monkeys whose army rides on cassowaries, and so much more, OMG.

Terryl Whitlatch used to teach art at the university and designed some creatures to the Star Wars. This is a showpiece of the art of animal illustration, with hundreds of real species. And the story is good, too.
 
wow, The Katurran Odyssey looks amazing! That's going on my list of books to buy.

Another great illustrator is Alan Aldridge. I have had two of his books since I was little, The Ship's Cat from 1977 and The Peacock Party from 1979. I suppose they could legitimately be described as books which influenced me, with their incredible imagery and detail in every painting.
 
I think the main ones were:
'Mammals of the World' by Hans Hvass - I kept on taking this book out from a local library
'Mammals of the World' by Michael Boorer
'The Mammals' by Desmond Morris - I kept on taking this book out from a local library
'Systematic Dictionary of Mammals of the World' - I kept on taking this book out from a local library
Walker's 'Mammals of the World' - I first saw this at the Natural History Museum and my parents arranged for a copy to be sent ftom the USA
One of my best Christmas presents was 'The Daily Mail Pictorial Animal Book'
 
I thought I might revisit this list and try to add five more to the five in my original post (#2 of the thread). These aren't in any particular order but are all books which I owned or read repeatedly as a young boy and which undeniably shaped my path.

1) Walker's Mammals of the World - almost the sole reason I went to Flores later in life was to look for the Flores Giant Rat, which I had only ever read about in this two-volume encyclopedia. I think it would have been the 4th edition (my books are still all in a storage locker, so I can't check).

2) Parrots of the World by Joseph Forshaw and William Cooper - I read this entire book cover to cover multiple times. I think the first one I read was the second edition (1978), but the first one I owned was the third edition (1989). The Flores Hanging Parrot with its intriguing lack of information, was the second reason I wanted to go to Flores.

3) The Bafut Beagles (1950) - really any of the Durrell books, although I wasn't keen on the Corfu ones as a boy, but this one was (I think) the first one I read.

4) Willard Price's ... Adventure series (1949-1980). I couldn't pick one as being influential, but as a whole they made me want to be an animal collector. That didn't happen. It probably helped with the travel aspects though.

5) similarly, Attenborough's Zoo Quest series from the 1950s. It seems I really liked animal collecting for zoos!

6) On the Track of Unknown Animals by Bernard Heuvelmans (1955) - I loved this book. I had read passing accounts in other books and magazines about pterodactyls in Texas and suchlike phenomena, and I even had books specifically about the Loch Ness Monster, but Heuvelmans opened up a whole new world of cryptozoology. Even when young I didn't buy into all his suggestions and stories though. I followed it later into Shuker's books but was older by then and less inclined to just accept his opinions. Although more scientific now in my thought-processes I am still a big fan of (sensible) cryptozoology, albeit more by way of critical analysis.

7) The Ship's Cat (1977) and The Peacock Party (1979) by Alan Aldridge, as mentioned earlier in the thread. These "childrens books" could legitimately be described as having influenced me in both animal and artistic terms, with their incredible imagery and detail in every painting.

8) Life on Earth by David Attenborough (1979) - the two sequels also, although the original book was the more influential because of its scope and timing in my childhood.

9) Extinct Birds by Errol Fuller (1987) (and also The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species by David Day (1989)) - both so depressing and yet inspiring in a weird way, in how they were so comprehensive and filled with wonderful artworks and fascinating histories. I have to also mention Rare Birds of the World by Guy Mountfort (1988) - the reason I had always wanted to go to New Caledonia to see the cloven-feathered dove as illustrated by Norman Arlott. My most treasured books were always those with beautiful paintings in them.

10) Animals on View by Anthony Smith (1977) - the hardcover version, probably the most influential book in fueling my interest in zoos. I didn't get Geoffrey Schomberg's book The Penguin Guide to British Zoos until later, even though it was published almost a decade earlier, and really Smith's book was much preferable to me anyway.
 
oh, also:

11) Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss (1812 - although my version was a much later one).

12) The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne (1858).

I'm not sure how I could have forgotten those!
 
I'd wholly agree with @Chlidonias on Anthony Smith's Animals On View: my paperback of it must have been read more thoroughly than any other volume I've ever owned. His style of writing was wonderful, his judgements sound, his philosophy consistent and coherent.

And, too, the great Willard Price. Of course.
 
sooty mangabey said:
I'd wholly agree with @Chlidonias on Anthony Smith's Animals On View: my paperback of it must have been read more thoroughly than any other volume I've ever owned. His style of writing was wonderful, his judgements sound, his philosophy consistent and coherent.
.
Click to expand...

I remember that book obviously but don't have it now. But his presentation of the 'Great Zoos of the World' T.V. series was excellent too.
 
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Chlidonias said:
I thought I might revisit this list and try to add five more to the five in my original post (#2 of the thread). These aren't in any particular order but are all books which I owned or read repeatedly as a young boy and which undeniably shaped my path.

1) Walker's Mammals of the World - almost the sole reason I went to Flores later in life was to look for the Flores Giant Rat, which I had only ever read about in this two-volume encyclopedia. I think it would have been the 4th edition (my books are still all in a storage locker, so I can't check).

2) Parrots of the World by Joseph Forshaw and William Cooper - I read this entire book cover to cover multiple times. I think the first one I read was the second edition (1978), but the first one I owned was the third edition (1989). The Flores Hanging Parrot with its intriguing lack of information, was the second reason I wanted to go to Flores.

3) The Bafut Beagles (1950) - really any of the Durrell books, although I wasn't keen on the Corfu ones as a boy, but this one was (I think) the first one I read.

4) Willard Price's ... Adventure series (1949-1980). I couldn't pick one as being influential, but as a whole they made me want to be an animal collector. That didn't happen. It probably helped with the travel aspects though.

5) similarly, Attenborough's Zoo Quest series from the 1950s. It seems I really liked animal collecting for zoos!

6) On the Track of Unknown Animals by Bernard Heuvelmans (1955) - I loved this book. I had read passing accounts in other books and magazines about pterodactyls in Texas and suchlike phenomena, and I even had books specifically about the Loch Ness Monster, but Heuvelmans opened up a whole new world of cryptozoology. Even when young I didn't buy into all his suggestions and stories though. I followed it later into Shuker's books but was older by then and less inclined to just accept his opinions. Although more scientific now in my thought-processes I am still a big fan of (sensible) cryptozoology, albeit more by way of critical analysis.

7) The Ship's Cat (1977) and The Peacock Party (1979) by Alan Aldridge, as mentioned earlier in the thread. These "childrens books" could legitimately be described as having influenced me in both animal and artistic terms, with their incredible imagery and detail in every painting.

8) Life on Earth by David Attenborough (1979) - the two sequels also, although the original book was the more influential because of its scope and timing in my childhood.

9) Extinct Birds by Errol Fuller (1987) (and also The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species by David Day (1989)) - both so depressing and yet inspiring in a weird way, in how they were so comprehensive and filled with wonderful artworks and fascinating histories. I have to also mention Rare Birds of the World by Guy Mountfort (1988) - the reason I had always wanted to go to New Caledonia to see the cloven-feathered dove as illustrated by Norman Arlott. My most treasured books were always those with beautiful paintings in them.

10) Animals on View by Anthony Smith (1977) - the hardcover version, probably the most influential book in fueling my interest in zoos. I didn't get Geoffrey Schomberg's book The Penguin Guide to British Zoos until later, even though it was published almost a decade earlier, and really Smith's book was much preferable to me anyway.
Click to expand...

I've still got 'Walkers' and the Bernard Heuvelmans 'On the Track of Unknown Animals' in my collection.

Like Gentle Lemur, 'King Solomon's Ring' by Konrad Lorenz was another early influence for me, I think I was about 10 when I read it, the same period that I first read 'Tarka the Otter' by Williamson. Other later influences not frequently mentioned were(later on) all of the behavioural scientist George Schaller's books and specifically about Zoos; Man and Animal in the Zoo by Hediger, At Home in the Zoo by Gerald Iles(about Belle Vue Zoo) My Friends the Apes by Belle Benchley( life during the 1930-40's era at San Diego Zoo) and 'Hold that Tiger' by Denton (staff photographer at the Bronx Zoo) and all of the earlier International Zoo Yearbooks. I still have most of these.

Forshaw and Cooper's 'Parrots of the World' is a beautiful book though I've not seen it in many years. Karl Shuker's books on Cryptozoology I found a bit far fetched but I've never had a strong interest in that field, at least after Huevelmans earlier work.
 
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