On Life and Living: Konrad Lorenz in Conversation with Kurt Mundl; Translated by Richard D. Bosley

One can savor Lorenz's talks with Austrian journalist Mundl shortly before his death in 1989 as a passionate, forceful, eloquent plea for ecological sanity. Like an Old Testament prophet, the author of On Aggression warns against the destruction of forests, pollution of waters, extinction of animals and human overpopulation. He is a clearsighted opponent of nuclear power plants. Lorenz can be irritating, however: he displays a casual attitude toward oil spills, and appears to admire hunters ``who perform their art in a truly conscientious and noble manner.'' Although an animal lover, he believes it is acceptable to kill them for food, and he supports large-scale laboratory experimentation on them. Lorenz's horror of big cities seems more elitist than ecologically motivated, and his remarks on youth and age, Darwinism and harmony with nature at times sound sententious or pontifical. Photos. (Apr.)