In the Shadow of Man Book

Shortly before or after (I don't remember) I studied abroad in Kenya with Richard and Meave Leakey, I decided to read the books by 'Leakey's angels': Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas. These three are known for their pioneering field studies of the three great apes'chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, respectively. I thought that In the Shadow of Man was a far better read than Gorillas in the Mist. I never did get around to Galdikas's book...

When I read this book, I loved it. I suspect I would like it less if I read it today, but that's probably because I've become more of a snob. It should be said, however, that many of her methods were questionable. This is largely because she had no formal training, and Louis Leakey found it gratifying to send wide-eyed young women out into the field. From the standpoint of research, the most egregious thing that Goodall did was use bananas to lure the chimps into her camp. Leakey was furious about this, and it is, indeed, a frightful bit of scholarship. Nonetheless, it was entertaining to read about.

Goodall may not be a genius scientist, but she is certainly a passionate storyteller. It is incredible how effectively she pulled me in to the personal lives of her chimps. Aggression displays, rain dances, pregnancies, estrus cycles, and struggles for dominance play out like a soap opera. Chimps are fascinating. In some ways, they seem so human: they tickle, play, make tools, smile, shake hands, and even appear to love one another. In retrospect, I suspect that she was doing a bit of anthropomorphizing in her account. But many intelligent people have been led astray by this almost-human quality of our nearest relative (the best example of this can be found in the fascinating documentary Project Nim), so I'm willing to forgive her.

If someone were to ask me about the fundamentals of human behavior, this would be one of the first books I would direct them to. It is impossible to forget our intimate connection with our close relatives, and the significance of our evolutionary past, when we acquaint ourselves with ape behavior. Although we like to flatter ourselves with notions of our own uniqueness, we are not so different. It is a great irony that we have made an apocalyptic film entitled The Planet of the Apes. We are living on the Planet of the Apes, and we should be careful to remember it.