King Solomon's Ring is a zoological

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 book for the general audience, written by the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n scientist Konrad Lorenz

Konrad Lorenz

Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch...

 in 1949. The first English-language edition appeared in 1952.

The book's title refers to the legendary Seal of Solomon

Seal of Solomon

In Medieval Jewish, Christian and Islamic legends, the Seal of Solomon was a magical signet ring said to have been possessed by King Solomon, which variously gave him the power to command demons, genies , or to speak with animals.-In legend :...

, a ring that supposedly gave King Solomon

Solomon

Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...

 the power to speak to animals. Lorenz claims, with only a little exaggeration, that he likewise achieved this feat of communication with several species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

. He accomplished this by raising them in and around his home and observing their behavior. King Solomon's Ring describes the methods of his investigation, and his resulting findings about animal psychology.

Lorenz's purely factual findings can fascinate the reader. He relates, for instance, the surprisingly refined social system of the common Eurasian jackdaw

Jackdaw

The Jackdaw , sometimes known as the Eurasian Jackdaw, European Jackdaw or Western Jackdaw, is a passerine bird in the crow family. Found across Europe, western Asia and North Africa, it is mostly sedentary, although northern and eastern populations migrate south in winter. Four subspecies are...

, the uncanny behavior and bodily features of the tiny water shrew

Water Shrew

Water Shrew may refer to any of several species of semi-aquatic red-toothed shrews:*Asiatic water shrews **Malayan Water Shrew **Himalayan Water Shrew **Sunda Water Shrew...

, and the surprisingly complex interactions of seemingly dull and stupid aquarium fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

. His unusual methods, without which he could not have made many of these observations, led him on many adventures and misadventures, and he generously interlards his narrative

Narrative

A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...

 with anecdote

Anecdote

An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...

s.

However, between these quaint and comical digressions, King Solomon's Ring raises pointed questions about animal psychology, human psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, and the relationship between them. Lorenz dispels several common misconceptions about animals' intelligence, but at the same time he points out many of their similarities with humans. Some of these similarities are well-founded, but others are speculative extrapolations from the human mind (in fact, Lorenz has been criticized for excessive anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...

).

In addition, King Solomon's Ring addresses the issue of keeping pet

Pet

A pet is a household animal kept for companionship and a person's enjoyment, as opposed to wild animals or to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for economic or productive reasons. The most popular pets are noted for their loyal or playful...

s. As he might be expected to, considering how many animals he kept himself, Lorenz praises the benefits that a pet owner derives from his pet. However, he also describes the hazards that an animal can pose to the inhabitants and material contents of a house, and the ways in which a pet's captivity can make it miserable, and explains how to avoid each of these causes for discontent.

King Solomon's Ring has changed the way many people see animals. A few of the findings it presents have found their way into common knowledge

Common knowledge

Common knowledge is knowledge that is known by everyone or nearly everyone, usually with reference to the community in which the term is used. Common knowledge need not concern one specific subject, e.g., science or history. Rather, common knowledge can be about a broad range of subjects, including...

 since its publication, such as the phenomenon of imprinting

Imprinting (psychology)

Imprinting is the term used in psychology and ethology to describe any kind of phase-sensitive learning that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behavior...

. The first English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

translation appeared in 1952. , it has been printed at least six times in English, and is still being published.