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Summary: This is behavioral science done correctly
Review: Jane Goodall is a unique undividual whose work should be studied by those who think that the animal rights people don't have a clue. Her efforts at gaining the trust of chimpanzee's in their natural habitat have spauned a host of up-and-comers who will continue to carry her work to the next level.Goodall distinguished herself by sitting in the bush on a daily basis until the local chimpanzee tribal members came close enough to make physical contact with her. That an English woman scientist would journey to Tanzania to engage in this type of research is unusual and certainly puts her at "the top of her class". She follows the lives and behavior patterns of her subjects until her research sounds like a Michener novel with its generational emphasis and timelines of family heritage. Within this effort she follows each subsequent offspring through each of their successive cycles from birth and death. What is fascinating is how she describes personality differences, the kind that come from hard-coded genetic diffences, the same as we find in human individuals. The mating behavior sounds like something out of "Cosmopolitan". The squabbles and fighting behavior could be that of any large Homo Sapien family. While Chimp's aren't on the same intellectual level as humans they certainly come closer than any other species. Jane Goodall deserves every accolade she gets for bringing us a lens through which to observe another geneological line of a species that has developed from our common ancestors. Her work suggests that we should rethink our medical research toward more humane treatment of these animals whose behavior is too similar to ours to ignore. This is an excellent book.
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Summary: An amazing woman!
Review: Jane Goodall is such an ambassador for chimpanzees and all other life on this planet. Her hard work, insights, and drive are to be admired! This book is her beginning and a must read for everyone. She is a truly amazing woman!
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Summary: A classic and entertaining, but not for everyone
Review: Jane Goodall wrote the book on contemporary ethology (the study of animals in the native habitats), literally, but not everyone will enjoy it. It is full of anecdotes from Goodall's life in Africa during the first few decades of the ethology experiment that shocked the scientific community with its informality and enthralled the world with its endearing stories. The reader becomes entranced in the saga of Jane's pitfalls and triumphs, and later is deeply affected by the chimpanzee society and its eerie parallels to that of man. But the reader of which I speak is interested in science, in animal behavior, in the story of a young girl jeered by those who never thought she could make it, in the story of a young girl who almost believed them, in the story of a woman who never did, and whose life, and that of man's closest relative, as well as the world scientific community and the environment as a whole, were changed forever. And, fascinating as the human story is, one must be able to dig the animal story as well, and all the way through the book, which is not long to one who does. Conclusion? Excellent in every respect, but if biology class turned you cold from the start, you might not make it through all 304 pages. Otherwise, get the book -- you'll be in for a treat.
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Summary: Super-de-duper!
Review: Like another reviewer, I'm an anthropology student and I had to read this book for a class I'm taking. Never has a book, meant for education, made me both laugh and cry out loud. It was simply wonderful. You will learn a lot about chimpanzees, and I promiss you will never watch them in the zoo, in the same way, again. Even if you are not looking to learn about chimpanzee developement and behavior, the book is excellent on a purely entertainment level. Even though this book is was a required reading, I was so impressed that I'm going out to buy her other books... just out of interest.
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Summary: Ground-breaking woman scientist
Review: Not as well-written as Birute Galdikas's REFLECTIONS OF EDEN which describe studies of orangutans in Borneo, IN THE SHADOW OF MAN is none the less a fascinating book which chronicles the early work of a remarkable woman.
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Summary: A Great Book!
Review: Reading this book has changed my life. I better know now who I am and why I am. The chimpanzee in the wild is a remarkable mirror.
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Summary: Shadow of Man Review
Review: The book In the Shadow of Man I found in the begginig to kind of boring. Just because the book was kind of slow moving at first. It talked a little bit about her childhood, and how she got to Africa. I didn't find it very exciting then. I wanted to get right to the action. Then in the middle of the book it got really exciting, because Jane Goodall talks about how she finally got to have some real interactions with the chimps, instead of them always running away from her, and keeping a safe distance. Also how she would feed them bannanas, and she gets married and things like that. So the rest of the book from the middle on I found prettie interesting and exciting. And if you like animals and are ok with a boring beggining to a book, but an exciting middle and finish, then I would reccomend this book to you. I liked it a little bit, but it wasn't my favorite book, but that's just me. Check it out for yourself, and see what you think!
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Summary: Observation is the key to all the doors of knowledge
Review: The pleasure that Ms. Goodall had placed and received in sharing her life with chimpanzees is conveyed effortlessly in this book and touches you quite easily. I started reading this book not being to sure about what I was doing, since to know about the habits of these primates is not exactly among my list of favorite topics. So I just started browsing and before I knew it, sixty or eighty pages had gone by as well as my possibilities of getting up early in the morning. The author will guide your through the complex social structures in which chimpanzees live to the very detailed and amazing details of their everyday life. For example that they would eat gladly a human baby if given the chance. But more important she makes you care for their lives not as a consequence of a higher scientific purpose, but simply because the more that we relate to nature the more we are embraced in its blessings.
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Summary: Great For ALL!!!
Review: This book is truly insightful, as is all books by Dr Goodall. But what is truly great about this book is the insight into human society and how it may have been formed. This book needs to be read by mothers-to-be because it will truly give you insight as to what may truly be the right and wrong ways to raise a child. The chimpanzees that Dr Goodall studies reveal mothering practices that can be seen in human society. However, the truly great thing about this is that it also shows how the baby chimpanzees grew up and which ones where more likely to survive and what their personalities are like as adults. This book is also great for those who are of scientific mind and want to know more about behavior and its evolution. Overall this book is a must read for EVERYONE!!
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Summary: Wonderful account about studying chimpanzees in Africa
Review: This book tells you what Jane Gooddall went through to learn about the animals she loved. It is NOT the scientific account of that research, you can find that elsewhere. It's a fascinating story. I found myself caught up in the lives of the different chimps, wondering what Flo, David, Flint and Fifi were going to do next. As a student of biology I feel it really narrows in on what it is like to be a field biologist--fascination!
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