Karl Von Frisch

1886-1982

Austrian zoologist who won a Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1973 for his studies of sensory discrimination and communication in bees. Frisch became interested in bees while a graduate student in biology.

He trained bees to respond to specific stimuli, such as colors, and analyzed the ability of bees to distinguish between scents. Frisch described the "dances" that bees use to communicate information about food sources. Frisch was a founder of the science of ethology (animal behavior).