"?Who should read this book? Anyone working with small children?They should do so?because it is beautifully and intelligently written?" (Nature, 19 December 2002)

"?intriguing?a testament to Blum?s skill that she manages to elicit so much sympathy for a man so difficult to love?" (Discover, 22 January 2003)

"?Blum, a Pulitzer prize?winning science writer, describes Harlow?s discovery?she chronicles his struggles to persuade his fellow psychologists?to take him seriously?" (Economist (UK), 25 January 2003)

"?This is an excellent and readable biography of Harry Harlow?" (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol.44, No.6, 2003)

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century science and scientists made little if any recognition of the role of human relationships in the general well being of the individual. Far from encouraging human contact medical advice even to mothers with small children was that physical contact with their child was unhygienic, likely to ?spoil? the child and to be too sexual for the nature of the relationship.

Harry Harlow (1906?1981) was an American psychologist who challenged these ideas and shaped our contemporary understanding of human relationships by proving the crucial role of affection in human development through studies of social behaviour of monkeys. His research contributions (in the areas of learning, motivation, and affection) have major relevance for general and child psychology, yet it is one of the many paradoxes and tragedies of his work that the importance of love and humanity was only proved by a series of horrific and inhuman experiments, which subjected young primates either to isolation or to the custody of neglectful or evil surrogate mothers. Perhaps predictably these experiments showed that young animals reared by an attentive and loving parent grow into well?adjusted adults; those reared by neglectful or abusive parents grow into insecure, maladjusted and highly stressed adults who frequently repeat the pattern of abuse.

Written by Pulitzer prize?winning author Deborah Blum, this is a biography both of Harry Harlow and of the new concepts that he developed. It recounts his life, discusses the implications of his work and addresses the many ethical issues raised by his scientific legacy.

• A biography of a complex and highly controversial figure. The author neither condemns nor condones his actions but shows the reasons behind them
• An exploration of the role of emotions in our well being and how this came to be recognised
• A balanced discussion of the ethical issues surrounding scientific experiment
• An exploration of the importance of a loving environment for the development of children.

Harry Harlow, a brilliant, complex, alcoholic psychologist became the unlikely champion of love. He proved that the need for affection in children is stronger than the need even for food and that loving relationships are crucial to our development, our health and even our intelligence. Paradoxically, it was only through a series of horrific experiments in which young primates were subjected to negligent and evil surrogate mothers that he was able to prove the value of humanity. Yet it was these darkest of experiments that had the brightest legacy, for it was through these that he initiated a psychological revolution.

In Love at Goon Park Deborah Blum explores not only the life and work of this complex and controversial man, but also the nature of human relationships.

?For generations of psychology students, the image of a baby monkey being comforted by a cloth doll is one of the their most indelible memories of the subject. Yet even most psychologists know little about the brilliant, funny, and infuriating man behind the experiments. Nor do many people know about its context ? the fall and rise of the concept of love in social science ? which is one of the great untold stories of twentieth?century intellectual history. Deborah Blum combines these elements into a gripping biograpy, written with intelligence, warmth and panache." Steven Pinker, Peter de Florez Professor of Psycbology, MIT and author of The Blank State, How the Mind Works and The Language Instinct

?Incredible as it may seem, half a century ago leading psychologists scoffed at the notion that affection was vital to an infant?s flourishing. Deborah Blum brilliantly recalls this chilling era, and the scientist whose controversial experiments reaffirimed love?s importance. Love at Goon Park is science history at its best.? John Horgan, author of The End of Science

?In this lyrical portrait, Deborah Blum brings to vivid life the story of Harry Harlow ...This scrupulously researched biography tells the story of Harlow?s life in science, and of the insights that forever changed our concept of what it is to be human.? Ellen Ruppell Shell, author of The Hungry Gene

2002-12-28 Common sense vindicated

There's a fascinating small tale about an early monkey-baby who was given a mother-doll with no face. When later they later tried to give it a face, the baby was horrified. This matches the earlier observations about how British children evacuated from cities to safe homes in the country were mostly miserable despite homes that were loving and in many ways better than they had come from.

It's also explained how rat-mothers and rat-babies bond strongly, but any mother or baby will do, baby rats can be added or removed without disturbing the family structure.

There's lots of other interestng stuff, but read the book and find out for yourself.