However the book is as much about scientists as it is about rats. Rats have been used in many studies of behaviour, but Barnett warns against explaining rats behaviour in excessively human terms, and also against the opposite extreme of behaviourism. He also shows that the study of tame rats is likely to lead to misleading conclusions, as their social behaviour is very different from that of wild rats. Barnett's research on rats began over sixty years ago. I felt that more autobiographical details would have helped to indicate the time frame of this research. But that's a minor point and what he has to say will certainly be very useful to those wishing to study animal behaviour"; include "amazinf.php"; ?>