Book excerpt: "We are in a age when it is fashionable to trace one's roots. Although I have resisted the temptation to trace my genetic roots, the temptation to track my intellectual roots has proven irresistible. In reading accounts of the comparative psychologists that preceded my generation, I have been struck with their foresight and accomplishments. However, both the image and history of comparative psychology are generally perceived as poor. In this book I attempt to trace a consistent thread through the development of comparative psychology. By so doing, I hope to alter current perceptions of comparative psychology and thereby influence its future course. The goals of this book are best described as a cross between recording history and advocacy. I hope to escape some criticism by making my objectives and biases explicit. The audience toward which the book is directed consists of professionals and graduate students in comparative psychology and related disciplines. I hope to provide a fairly comprehensive overview of the history of comparative psychology as I perceive it. The book may therefore be useful in graduate seminars concerned with such history"--Pref. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).