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Among the participants were Konrad Lorenz, Tinbergen, Howard S. Liddell, E. Erikson, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Margaret Mead, Fritz Redl, Stanley Cobb, I. A. Mirsky and E. Fremont-Smith. The book contains records of six most stimulating symposia centred around ethology, i.e. the biological study of animal behaviour initiated by Heinroth and established by Lorenz and Tinbergen. It is now generally accepted that these studies are of considerable importance to the science of human behaviour and especially to the psycho-analyst who shares with the ethologist the interest in the effects of earliest experiences. That, on the other hand, psycho-analysis can benefit ethology is illustrated by Helen Blauvelt researches into 'Dynamics of the mother-newborn relationship in goats' which were stimulated by René Spitz' observations in hospitalized infants. The last symposium dealt with the role of the observer in the animal experiment, which was compared with the role of the therapist in the psycho-analytical situation. This book is full of fascinating observations and ideas; it conveys both the informality and the intensity of the discussions. Everybody interested in the science of behaviour will enjoy reading it.