Tuesday, January 31, 2012



This is a video of Professor Nikolas Tinbergen's Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Professor Tinbergen shared the 1973 Nobel prize with Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch for their work on the organisation and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns. He was, with Konrad Lorenz, a pioneer in the field of ethology, which is the study of animal behaviour with emphasis on the patterns that occur in natural settings.
This clip belongs here because he devoted about 10 minutes of his acceptance speech to describing the Alexander Technique and the effect it had on himself and his family.
He also talks about the manner in which Alexander came to develop the Technique, calling it '...one of the true epics of medical research.'
Listening to Tinbergen, it is difficult not to marvel at the intelligence and tenacity of this man who, without a degree in science, medical or otherwise, and without any background in scientific research, set out to solve a problem which his doctors could not address.
What's more, he did it too.