The Book Prize Index

Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection

Deborah Blum

Deborah Blum examines the history of love through the lens of its strangest unsung hero: a brilliant, fearless, alcoholic psychologist named Harry Frederick Harlow. Pursuing the idea that human affection could be understood, studied, even measured, Harlow (1905-1981) arrived at his conclusions by conducting research-sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrible-on the primates in his University of Wisconsin laboratory. Paradoxically, his darkest experiments may have the brightest legacy, for by studying "neglect" and its life-altering consequences, Harlow confirmed love's central role in shaping not only how we feel but also how we think.

ScienceScience · medium confidenceScience81 signalsLlm Classifier: Science -> ScienceOpen Library: Biography -> BiographyOpen Library: Experimental Psychology -> Medicine & Public HealthScience & DiscoveryMedicine, Health & the BodyMental Health & Psychology

Award History

0 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and TechnologyMajor2002FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    • Harry Frederick Harlow90%

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

    These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.

    • University of Wisconsin55%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    By studying primate “neglect” and its effects, Harry Frederick Harlow showed that love is central in shaping how we feel and think.

    Model confidence 65%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    35 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 75%.