The book of memories covers more than half a century of the author's life. It describes the history of the creation of his other twelve books from the birth of the idea to their publication. The main character of these memoirs is zoology. The author talks about how his scientific views were formed and developed, recalls extraordinary expedition adventures, his teachers, colleagues, friends, wives and all those who in one way or another contributed to the accumulation of his biological knowledge and its translation into scientific works. The book will help introduce students to the specialty, will help young scientists, and will also give the general reader the opportunity to learn “first-hand” how science was done in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia.