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Summary: A window into the essence of what life is meant to be.
Review: A strickingly passionate and clear view of the reality of this species. But the book goes way beyond this. At the beginning I thought it was "a bit" self-centered, because of the slow beginning, all focused on the author's personal life and feelings. But after a few pages I discovered that was only the way to lead us in: going from our so mortal and human, personal vicessitudes, to LIFE. We believe we are the center of creation, but isn't wisdom also being humble? There is a sense of greatness in the 3s year story of this tribe... and yet it is all described through simple, everyday life! The author spends 300 pages to tell us how grand life is. How incredibly sensitive and logical. And then, in probably 10 pages we are abruptly brought back to how we "the elected" humans treat it! And even here, Jane Goodall does so with no morbid or romantic view, but with the researcher's eyes, looking for solutions, those possible in such a "human" world. Not only for animal lovers, but for all interested in psychology, antropology, life in general.
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Summary: Read This Book!
Review: Foremost expert on chimpanzees, not only because of her first-hand, scientific knowledge of them, but because of her empathy with this species who is closer to us in genetic make-up than a gorilla, Jane Goodall's name is synonymous with advocate and scientist. Richard Leaky, world-renown paleoanthropologist, back in 1960 suggested to his secretary that we might learn more about how early man acted if someone conducted a long-term study of our closest relative. His stroke of genius was to suggest that Jane Goodall be the person to conduct this study. In this wonderful book, author and scientist Jane Goodall gives a brief overview of how she got into the chimpanzee business and why such studies are important to us. But, most of the book is about what Mrs. Goodall does best-observe chimpanzees. I mean really watch them, catalogue their every movement, watch every facial expression, every action, follow them through war, sex, discovery, grooming, interacting with other species, being born, growing up, getting themselves killed, and even finding things to laugh about. What Jane Goodall's four-decade work with chimpanzees has taught us is how appalling ignorant we are about the animals living today, and the inestimable loss we have incurred by not having done similar studies on the species we have extincted. If you don't know who Jane Goodall is (she's near the very top of my hero list) then pick up this book and find out.
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Summary: A great book... and not necessarily because of the apes...
Review: Goodall is a great writer and will be remembered as something of a scientist. More so than any other, she has been a champion and a poularizer of the study of chimpanzees and baboons; Richard Wrangham and others who are at the forefront of ape-research studied under her at Gombe-- and there is something about the myth of a little lady devoting her life to study in the forest that catches people's imaginations...The thing that makes this book so compelling, though, is the insight that it gives into the human condition-- not into that of chimps. Goodall forces people to feel because she can show-- minus the scientific dispassionate inquiry-- how these monekys behave-- and how much like us they act. She feels for them, she identifies with them-- and this book, in the end, forces one to see the human condition in a different light.... This is a worthwhile read and fully worth the money it costs. There are times when you can read Goodall's almost religious zeal-- and it is really neat. I highly recommend this book....
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Summary: It takes animals to teach us so much!
Review: I have always been a fan of Jane Goodall and her wards that she cares about so much. As a former student of anthropology I had the fortune to study(albeit in textbook sense only) the lives of the chimpanzees. Jane's book should be required reading not only for students of anthropology but for any member of the human species. She succeeds in forcing us to realize our place in the world and the ignorance in which we conduct ourselves every day of our lives. This is one of those books that made me feel two ways: one was to be ashamed to be a member of a species capable of such stupidity and cruelty, but at the same time proud that we have people such as Jane Goodall there to open our eyes to that which is right before us. Her relationship with the chimps is nothing short of amazing and inspiring. This book chronicles the years that she has spent with them and presents it to the reader in a way that also allows us to be a part of that relationship. Just as it has been of immense importance to her, she allows us to realize that we too factor into the equation somehow. It is because of that that we all have a responsibility, not only to ourselves but to our children to protect these animals and ensure they have a place alongside us in the future.
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Summary: It takes animals to teach us so much!
Review: I have always been a fan of Jane Goodall and her wards that she cares about so much. As a former student of anthropology I had the fortune to study(albeit in textbook sense only) the lives of the chimpanzees. Jane's book should be required reading not only for students of anthropology but for any member of the human species. She succeeds in forcing us to realize our place in the world and the ignorance in which we conduct ourselves every day of our lives. This is one of those books that made me feel two ways: one was to be ashamed to be a member of a species capable of such stupidity and cruelty, but at the same time proud that we have people such as Jane Goodall there to open our eyes to that which is right before us. Her relationship with the chimps is nothing short of amazing and inspiring. This book chronicles the years that she has spent with them and presents it to the reader in a way that also allows us to be a part of that relationship. Just as it has been of immense importance to her, she allows us to realize that we too factor into the equation somehow. It is because of that that we all have a responsibility, not only to ourselves but to our children to protect these animals and ensure they have a place alongside us in the future.
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Summary: A Riveting Sequel
Review: In "In the Shadow of Man", Jane Goodall introduced us to the Chimpanzees of Gombe. If anything, this sequel is even more fascinating. The whole study reads like a sweeping saga. As "Shadow" closed, the "main characters", the Flo family, were thriving, though there was a tinge of sadness with the realization that Flo wasn't getting any younger. As "Window" opens, the inevitable happens, and we learn how each of Flo's children coped with her death - including a foreshadowed tragedy. We then watch her sons find their place in the male hierarchy and see what her daughter has learned about successful parenting from her mother. The "supporting cast" is as interesting as that of "Shadow" - like Jomeo, a large male who never reached the high position one would have anticipated; Goblin, the Machiavellian politician who works his way up the ranks by befriending Alphas; Evered, who never reached a particularly high position but may have had the last laugh on all the males by quietly fathering the most children of the lot of them and Passion, the psychotic, nightmarish baby cannibal who sounds like something out of a horror movie. The book also documents the brutal, disturbing territorial war that proved that Chimpanzees are capable of violence against eachother. This is a war that would have never been recorded had the study ended when originally scheduled - showing why long term studies are needed for long lived animals like chimps and elephants. Both books should be among the first in the collection of everyone with the slightest interest in animal behavior. I keep up with the continuing story on internet, but I still can't wait for Ms. Goodall to continue with another book about what happened next.
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Summary: Through a Window is truly fascinating.
Review: In Through a Window, Dr. Jane Goodall gives an educational yet entertaining look into the world of chimpanzees. I was utterly absorbed in the book by the first chapter. If you are even remotely interested in chimpanzees or their close relationship to humans, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. It gives wonderful scientific insights into the systems of the chimpanzee community. I recommend that everyone read this book.
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Summary: Thirty Years of Goodall Research in Gombe
Review: Jane Goodall's contributions to our knowledge of chimpanzees has been remarkable. Because she first arrived in Africa completely untrained as an observer of animal behavior, she was able to bring a humanist's instincts to her work; her natural ability to see details and connections, as well as her affection for her subjects, culminated in published results that rocked the scientific community. THROUGH A WINDOW picks up her observations where IN THE SHADOW OF MAN left off. Here, she follows the lives mostly of the children of the original group. She has organized her chapters by theme: Mothers and Daughters, Sons and Mothers, War, Power, Love, and more. Within these chapters, she explores the specific lives of the Gombe chimps and their relationships with their relatives and group members. By tackling specific topics of behavior, she is able to fully integrate the range of her experiences, from first observations to those made thirty years later. As Goodall is quick to point out, what she assumed at first did not necessarily prove to hold fast over time. No less fascinating than IN THE SHADOW OF MAN, this book is extraordinary for its insight into chimpanzee personalities, relationships, and culture. If you have never before read Goodall's books, you will be surprised by the strong echoes of human behavior in these wild and highly individual chimpanzees. Goodall has made enormous contributions to our understanding of non-human primates, and should be widely read.
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Summary: Thirty Years of Goodall Research in Gombe
Review: Jane Goodall's contributions to our knowledge of chimpanzees has been remarkable. Because she first arrived in Africa completely untrained as an observer of animal behavior, she was able to bring a humanist's instincts to her work; her natural ability to see details and connections, as well as her affection for her subjects, culminated in published results that rocked the scientific community. THROUGH A WINDOW picks up her observations where IN THE SHADOW OF MAN left off. Here, she follows the lives mostly of the children of the original group. She has organized her chapters by theme: Mothers and Daughters, Sons and Mothers, War, Power, Love, and more. Within these chapters, she explores the specific lives of the Gombe chimps and their relationships with their relatives and group members. By tackling specific topics of behavior, she is able to fully integrate the range of her experiences, from first observations to those made thirty years later. As Goodall is quick to point out, what she assumed at first did not necessarily prove to hold fast over time. No less fascinating than IN THE SHADOW OF MAN, this book is extraordinary for its insight into chimpanzee personalities, relationships, and culture. If you have never before read Goodall's books, you will be surprised by the strong echoes of human behavior in these wild and highly individual chimpanzees. Goodall has made enormous contributions to our understanding of non-human primates, and should be widely read.
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Summary: "man is more capable of bad than good"- Machiavelli
Review: Jane Goodall's study of chimpanzee behavior and the fact that human and chimpanzee DNA only differ by over 1% shows the fact that humans do have human nature, or to be precise human biological nature. It confirms that most humans all over the world do have more tendency of doing bad than good. Even thou Machiavelli was referring only to people of his region, what he had observed is actually a "sample population",if we use statistics,of most people all over the world. Stephen Jay Gould argued in the introduction of "in the shadow of man" that we cannot say that we now know the essential and ineluctable darkness of human nature as others claim (obviously he was talking about the work of his rival Richard Dawkins, who wrote his findings in "The Selfish Gene")because what Jane Goodall saw in her first 30 years in Gombe only showed the whole panoply of chimpness, that this can only emphasize the far vaster range of capacities (for both good and evil)that humans possess. But has Stephen Jay Gould studied the written history of the human race for the last 5,000 years? if he did, didn't he saw the patterns of human behavior for the last 5,000 years that was obviously tending more towards the bad than the good? can it be said that human behavior for the last 5,000 years is just a product of cultures all over the globe? or isn't it obvious that our human biological nature has something to do with it also? shouldn't we ask this question, that even thou there is culture all over the globe, why did humans have a pattern of tendency to do one thing instead of the reverse of that (which is mainly more towards the bad than the good), for the last 5,000 years? because we must admit if we really don't want to do something, then after a while we will rebel from doing that something, for we can't take it anymore. But the last 5,000 years clearly showed that we are more motivated by our human biological nature, than by culture. Some people might even claim that the last 5,000 years of human history is not really that bad, but more towards the good, because historians and history books only record major events like wars, and conquest of people. That history does not record the day to day lives of humans for the last 5,000 years. But haven't we seen enough evidence that the day to day occurences in our world today, has also happened in the day to day lives of people back then? like rape, murders, thefts, bullying of powerless people, abuses of all sorts, have been happening since the dawn of man. This bad things that happen in humans day to day lives do happen, its just that we don't hear about them. For these things happen all over the world and not concentrated in one area. If its happening in our everyday lives now, its likely that its been happening since ancient times in the day to day lives of ancient people. They just don't know that it happens everyday, for they do not hear of information from distant lands, since again, events like these are not concentrated in one area, but is scattered all over the globe. So if bad things happen in day to day lives of people all over the world since ancient times, then wouldn't that accumulate to evil? isn't it obvious that we live in an evil world, for bad things happen everyday, we just don't have a clue that it happens day to day in our lives for the information is hidden from us by people, or the information is just beyond our reach. Its like what Richard Dawkins said, "just because you don't like the idea that you live in a harsh and ruthless world, doesn't mean that the reality of it could be denied". Its not a pessimistic view of human nature, its just pinpointing reality. Think about it, read the history of the human race for the last 5,000 years and know what happens to peoples day to day lives all over the world, thats been happening since the dawn of man, you will see where most people tend towards most, bad or good.
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