Scan barcode
Reviews
Wire Mothers & Inanimate Arms: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love by Dylan Meconis, Jim Ottaviani
checkplease's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, THIS is how you tell a story rooted in psychology’s history in graphic novel form. It’s a little didactic at times, but it manages to make Harry Harlow accessibly human while also conveying the historical import of his significant research. Bonus points for capturing the ethos of academic institutions and psychology conferences.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
2.0
Describes the life story of Harry Harlow, a scientist who did experiments on monkeys to prove the existence of parent/child love. The illustrations were great (yay Dylan Meconis!), but the story itself was a little hard to get into, a little confusing, and the science behind it took some thought to understand (instead of being explained clearly in text). I had to infer the meaning of experiments. We need more Meconis work in TRL though - this is the only thing we've got!
sebarose's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the idea of this book better than the reality. There could have been more discussion of the ethics of animal testing in addition to the discussion of challenging the prevailing theories of the day. Also, ending the story before the major breakthrough in 1960 was a little odd. It will still be recommended at the reference desk.
rebeccacider's review against another edition
3.0
Not really sure who the intended audience of this title was—maybe high school students?
The book tries to tell the story of both Harlow and his work, and it didn't really work for me, since Harlow's life wasn't sufficiently dramatic. Still, an interesting moment in the history of science.
Dylan Meconis does a fine job with the art, but her skill has definitely improved since this title.
The book tries to tell the story of both Harlow and his work, and it didn't really work for me, since Harlow's life wasn't sufficiently dramatic. Still, an interesting moment in the history of science.
Dylan Meconis does a fine job with the art, but her skill has definitely improved since this title.
deborah_s's review against another edition
5.0
This is an amazing story done simply, in an easy-to-read and understand cartoon form. I'd heard of these experiments and probably studied them in college, but the implications are so compelling to me now that I immediately reserved a copy of Deborah Blum's "Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection" at the library. Highly recommended if the summary of the book captures your interest at all, this is a quick read about a very profound subject.
kandicez's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! I had no idea that in the 1950's parents were cautioned against physical signs of affection. Not only was the public newly aware of, and terrfied of, germs, but with Freud spouting all his sex theories, parents allowed themselves to be convinced that a mother's kisses were sexual in nature. How sad.
This is the true, if partial, study of Dr. Harry Harlow, The first scientist to research, and prove that not only does love exist, but is absolutely neccesary for the normal development of babies. Of course he used monkeys for his research, but certainly the theory applies just as heartily to human infants. There are panels depicting babies being raised in sterile, plastic boxes. Not only were they clean, but they cut down on the labor of "mothering" a child. Despicable! Harlow proved how ridiculous this notion was by supplying his subjects with 2 mothers. A wire mother in charge of feeding, and a cloth mother the infants looked to for comfort. Up until that point, scientists believed a baby's emotional attachment to it's mother was caused by nursing. Harlow proved this was not so. The comfort a mother provides creates that attachment. In all cases, although they did nurse from the wire mother, every single baby preferred the "cuddly" mother figure. In all instances.
Just the presentation on Harlow's theories and the methods he used to prove them was enough to make me feel all present and future parents should read this. The underlying sadness depicted in his personal life just added to relevancy of his claims. He was depressed and withdrawn. Often leaving his family alone, even when in the same room with them. His peers insisted on replacing the word love with proximity in their own research. Harlow's life itself proved that proximity and love are not interchangeable. One can not replace the other.
This is the true, if partial, study of Dr. Harry Harlow, The first scientist to research, and prove that not only does love exist, but is absolutely neccesary for the normal development of babies. Of course he used monkeys for his research, but certainly the theory applies just as heartily to human infants. There are panels depicting babies being raised in sterile, plastic boxes. Not only were they clean, but they cut down on the labor of "mothering" a child. Despicable! Harlow proved how ridiculous this notion was by supplying his subjects with 2 mothers. A wire mother in charge of feeding, and a cloth mother the infants looked to for comfort. Up until that point, scientists believed a baby's emotional attachment to it's mother was caused by nursing. Harlow proved this was not so. The comfort a mother provides creates that attachment. In all cases, although they did nurse from the wire mother, every single baby preferred the "cuddly" mother figure. In all instances.
Just the presentation on Harlow's theories and the methods he used to prove them was enough to make me feel all present and future parents should read this. The underlying sadness depicted in his personal life just added to relevancy of his claims. He was depressed and withdrawn. Often leaving his family alone, even when in the same room with them. His peers insisted on replacing the word love with proximity in their own research. Harlow's life itself proved that proximity and love are not interchangeable. One can not replace the other.
crabbygirl's review against another edition
3.0
again, ottaviani sheds light on a subject we take for granted: the idea that maternal love and comfort provide stability in an infant's cognitive and emotional development.
but this time i knew nothing about this subject, or that - at some time - this idea was actually seen as radical and unscientific.
in his 't-minus' and 'jane goodall' books he brings you into the past and illustrates their thinking which serves to unscore WHY the breakthroughs were seen as such.
for this book, he starts in the near-present, shows his hero to be unbalanced, and then has him, on late night, relate his past to a janitor. frankly it comes off as too strange to be believed, so i looked him - and yes, there is harry harlow, and skinner, and john watson...
it makes you wonder what we now consider as gospel, and will be overturned in the future...
but this time i knew nothing about this subject, or that - at some time - this idea was actually seen as radical and unscientific.
in his 't-minus' and 'jane goodall' books he brings you into the past and illustrates their thinking which serves to unscore WHY the breakthroughs were seen as such.
for this book, he starts in the near-present, shows his hero to be unbalanced, and then has him, on late night, relate his past to a janitor. frankly it comes off as too strange to be believed, so i looked him - and yes, there is harry harlow, and skinner, and john watson...
it makes you wonder what we now consider as gospel, and will be overturned in the future...
library_brandy's review against another edition
5.0
Ottaviani. Meconis. Monkeys. Behavioral psychology. What's not to like?
pussreboots's review against another edition
4.0
http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2015/comments_10/wire_mothers.html