In the Shadow of Man

This book changed my world. Jane’s work exploring the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees was simply inspirational when I first read it as a child. I wanted to do what she did—study animals.

It was only when I returned to it that I realized the significance of her ability to tell stories about the animals she met, introducing their characters as well as the data. Additionally, her work went on to break the barriers of personhood. If we accept human exceptionalism—that we are so special because of what we can do—then we need to remember that there are many other… show more.

I must admit, I am in awe of Dr. Jane Goodall, who travelled deep into the jungle of Tanzania at the unfazed age of 26 (accompanied by her mum) to see what she could learn from chimpanzees. Her research undermined scientific thought as she watched chimps using tools and lived through a four-year primate war. I loved the way I learnt to differentiate and empathise with individual animals in this book. I introduced individual sun bears in my own book with the aim to bridge the species divide in the same way. After all, as Jane herself says, "Only if… show more.

Jane Goodall’s work with chimpanzees in Africa was a model for so many of us trying to make our way with field research, whether in forests, savannahs, or at sea. As a primate behavioral biologist, she was selected as one of Louis Leakey’s “Angels” (along with Biruté Galdikas with orangutans and Dian Fossey with mountain gorillas), but she has always remained a strong individualist, a rebel, working outside the establishment, doing things her way. She came to know the chimps individually and over the years uncovered their deepest and sometimes dark secrets. This book holds the rawness of those early… show more.

No person knows chimpanzees, and has been able to evoke human compassion for them, like Jane Goodall. This book is her personal account of her first studies of the chimps in Gombe. What I most like about this book is Goodall’s ability to show us the various personalities of her study subjects. She names them and we come to appreciate them as individuals. We see ourselves in her descriptions of their antics—some bullish, others injured, some young, others old. Goodall writes with enthusiasm for science, discovery, and the behavior of animals as she also relates to us the challenges for… show more.