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Watery Milieus: Marine Biology, Aquariums, and the Limits of Ecological Knowledge circa 1900

Watery Milieus: Marine Biology, Aquariums, and the Limits of Ecological Knowledge circa 1900 Konrad Lorenz with colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology, Seewiesen, Germany, ca. 1970. Konrad Lorenz Archive, Vienna. 36 https://doi.org/10.1162/grey_a_00269 Watery Milieus: Marine Biology, Aquariums, and the Limits of Ecological Knowledge circa 1900 CHRISTI NA WE SSELY TRANSLATED BY NATHAN STOBAUGH Thinking with the Aquarium In 1980, when Konrad Lorenz was asked on the occasion of an award ceremony to look back on his career and reflect on what had most influenced his research, he singled out neither a particular theoretical perspective nor a methodological approach, but instead spoke about the material culture of his studies. It was the aquarium that had made the pursuit of environmental science seem necessary, as if the problem had been “right in front of his nose.” For an aquarium was, according to Lorenz, not simply a neutral container that held one or more animals but rather a vessel that inspired one to direct attention at the “whole.” “The great educational importance of the aquarium for any biologist lies in the fact,” the behavioral scientist underscored in his speech, “that you have before yourself an ecosystem that either prospers as a whole, or the fish that you want to study scientifically will http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Grey Room MIT Press

Watery Milieus: Marine Biology, Aquariums, and the Limits of Ecological Knowledge circa 1900

Grey Room : 24 – May 1, 2019

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References (41)

Publisher
MIT Press
Copyright
Copyright © MIT Press
ISSN
1526-3819
eISSN
1536-0105
DOI
10.1162/grey_a_00269
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Konrad Lorenz with colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology, Seewiesen, Germany, ca. 1970. Konrad Lorenz Archive, Vienna. 36 https://doi.org/10.1162/grey_a_00269 Watery Milieus: Marine Biology, Aquariums, and the Limits of Ecological Knowledge circa 1900 CHRISTI NA WE SSELY TRANSLATED BY NATHAN STOBAUGH Thinking with the Aquarium In 1980, when Konrad Lorenz was asked on the occasion of an award ceremony to look back on his career and reflect on what had most influenced his research, he singled out neither a particular theoretical perspective nor a methodological approach, but instead spoke about the material culture of his studies. It was the aquarium that had made the pursuit of environmental science seem necessary, as if the problem had been “right in front of his nose.” For an aquarium was, according to Lorenz, not simply a neutral container that held one or more animals but rather a vessel that inspired one to direct attention at the “whole.” “The great educational importance of the aquarium for any biologist lies in the fact,” the behavioral scientist underscored in his speech, “that you have before yourself an ecosystem that either prospers as a whole, or the fish that you want to study scientifically will

Journal

Grey RoomMIT Press

Published: May 1, 2019

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