Wolfgang Wickler is a German
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
, behavioral researcher and author. He led the
ethological
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective ...
department of the
Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
The former Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology was located in Bulldern, Westphalia, Germany, moved to Seewiesen in 1957. It was one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society (Max Planck Gesellschaft).
Background
A working group was f ...
from 1974, and he took over as director of the institute in 1975. Even after he was given emeritus status, he remained closely associated to the institute in Seewiesen and ensured its smooth transition under the newly created
Max Planck Institute
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) (1 ...
for Ornithology.
Career
After finishing secondary school in 1951, he studied
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
and then received a grant to go to the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology, where he was a student of
Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded ...
and
Erich von Holst
Erich Walther von Holst (28 November 1908 – 26 May 1962) was a German behavioral physiologist who was a Baltic German native of Riga, Livonia and was related to historian Hermann Eduard von Holst (1841–1904). In the 1950s he founded th ...
. After he completed his doctoral work on the behavior of fish, he was scientific assistant in Seewiesen as of 1960 and finally qualified to become a professor at the
University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...
in 1969. He was also appointed to be a professor in the faculty of natural sciences there in 1976. By 1970, he was a lecturer in the Catholic theological faculty for the biological foundations of human moral concepts.
Wickler's area of specialisation was the reconstruction of
racial history of animal communities and the analysis of communication of animals. Among other areas, he investigated the "dialects" of birds and he also wrote a book about
mimicry
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...
in 1968 which was the only book on the subject in the German language until 2002. Other research fields of his department at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology were studies about the social behavior of
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
s and
grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grasshopp ...
s, about acquisition of food, reproduction and mating of
prawn
Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten.
The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature ...
s, as well as rather philosophical publications on "biological explanation" in connection with ethical questions (such as "''Die Biologie der zehn Gebote''", The Biology of the Ten Commandments, in 1971).
He received great attention in the broad public in 1981 with the
sociobiologically shaped book, "''Das Prinzip Eigennutz''" (The Principle of Self-Interest), which Wickler wrote with Ute Seibt, as well as the book, "''Männlich – weiblich. Ein Naturgesetz und seine Folgen''" (Male - Female, a Natural Law and its Consequences), also written with Ute Seibt in 1983. The focal point of both books was the evolution of behavior. The central question was formulated as, "How must the behavior of living things have been formed, if the theory of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
is correct?" (from the foreword to "''Das Prinzip Eigennutz''"). Although their books did not deny cultural influences on human behavior, they were reproached for taking these influences into consideration marginally, at most. It is extremely unusual that new editions several of his books continue to be published, decades after their first publications.
In November 1997, the council of the
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (german: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. ...
decided to close the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology, with the retirement of Prof. Wolfgang Wickler on November 30, 1999. Its ornithological research has been continued in the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (in Erling-Andechs, Radolfzell and Seewiesen).
Along with the former Bonn behavioral biologist,
Hanna-Maria Zippelius, Wolfgang Wickler is one of the most aggressive critics of the
instinct theory of his mentor,
Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded ...
.
Wolfgang Wickler has been married to Agnes Oehm since 1956, has four grown children and is also active as an organist.
Selected publications
*Wickler, W.: ''Mimikry. Nachahmung und Täuschung in der Natur''. Munich: 1968. ''in German''
:::— ''Mimicry in Plants and Animals'' (Translated by R. D. Martin) McGraw-Hill, New York: 1968.
*Wickler, W.: ''Sind wir Sünder?: Naturgesetze d. Ehe''. With intro. by Konrad Lorenz. Munich: 1969. ''in German''
*Wickler, W.: ''Antworten der Verhaltensforschung''. Munich: 1970. ''in German''
*Wickler, W.: ''Verhalten und Umwelt''. Hoffmann und Campe Verlag, Hamburg: 1972. ''in German''
*Wickler, W. and Seibt, U. (publ.): Vergleichende Verhaltensforschung (Reader). Hamburg: 1973. ''in German''
*Wickler, W.: ''Stammesgeschichte und Ritualisierung. Zur Entstehung tierischer und menschlicher Verhaltensmuster''. Munich: 1975. ''in German''
*Wickler, W.: ''Die Biologie der Zehn Gebote. Warum die Natur für uns kein Vorbild ist''. Munich: 1991 (new edition). ''in German''
:::— ''The Biology of the Ten Commandments'' (Translated by David Smith) New York, McGraw-Hill: 1972). .
*Wickler, W. and Seibt, U.: ''Das Prinzip Eigennutz. Zur Evolution sozialen Verhaltens''. Munich / Zurich: 1991 (new edition). ''in German''
*Wickler, W. and Seibt, U.: ''Männlich Weiblich. Ein Naturgesetz und seine Folgen''. Heidelberg / Berlin: 1998 (new edition). ''in German''
*Wickler, W. and Seibt, U.: ''Kalenderwurm und Perlenpost. Biologen entschlüsseln ungeschriebene Botschaften''. Heidelberg / Berlin: 1998. ''in German''
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickler, Wolfgang
Living people
1931 births
Ethologists
20th-century German zoologists
21st-century German zoologists
Max Planck Institute directors