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In the Shadow of Man
Jane van Lawick-Goodall's account of her life among the wild chimpanzees, illustrated with photographs by her husband Hugo van Lawick, is one of the most enthralling stories of animal behavior ever written. It is unique in dealing with the member of the animal kingdom closest to man. So complex is the social organization of a chimpanzee community, so obvious are the many parallels between chimpanzee and human relationships, that the author sometimes felt as if she were making a study of village life.
For a human being to become accepted by a group of wild animals is a major achievement. The author's adventure began in 1960, when the famous anthropologist, L. S. B. Leakey, for whom she was then working, suggested that a long-term study of chimpanzees in the wild might shed light on the behavior of our stone-age ancestors. Accompanied only by her mother and her African assistants, she set up camp in the remote Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in Tanzania on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. For months the project seemed hopeless; out in the jungle from dawn till dark, she had but fleeting glimpses of frightened animals. At last came the day when she was accepted, and no longer feared. She was able to record previously unknown behavior, such as the use -- and even the making -- of tools, hitherto considered an exclusive skill of man. As the chimps began to come into her camp, she became increasingly aware of them as individual beings.
Though Jane van Lawick-Goodall started on her own, the full success of the enterprise was made possible by the early arrival of Hugo van Lawick, an expert wildlife photographer sent to her by Dr. Leakey. The couple promptly fell in love, were married in London, and returned for their honeymoon to their chimps at Gombe Stream.
The lessons to be learned from chimpanzee behavior are endless. In simplified form, their behaviors parallel ours, while the differences allow us to reflect on man's uniqueness.
For a human being to become accepted by a group of wild animals is a major achievement. The author's adventure began in 1960, when the famous anthropologist, L. S. B. Leakey, for whom she was then working, suggested that a long-term study of chimpanzees in the wild might shed light on the behavior of our stone-age ancestors. Accompanied only by her mother and her African assistants, she set up camp in the remote Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in Tanzania on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. For months the project seemed hopeless; out in the jungle from dawn till dark, she had but fleeting glimpses of frightened animals. At last came the day when she was accepted, and no longer feared. She was able to record previously unknown behavior, such as the use -- and even the making -- of tools, hitherto considered an exclusive skill of man. As the chimps began to come into her camp, she became increasingly aware of them as individual beings.
Though Jane van Lawick-Goodall started on her own, the full success of the enterprise was made possible by the early arrival of Hugo van Lawick, an expert wildlife photographer sent to her by Dr. Leakey. The couple promptly fell in love, were married in London, and returned for their honeymoon to their chimps at Gombe Stream.
The lessons to be learned from chimpanzee behavior are endless. In simplified form, their behaviors parallel ours, while the differences allow us to reflect on man's uniqueness.
297 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
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September 7, 2025
Dacă sînt întrebat unde aș vrea să călătoresc, răspunsul meu e instantaneu (și îl descumpănește pe curios): în Africa. Nu în Tokyo, nu în Florida, nici în Los Angeles, ci exact în Africa. Asta ține de lecturile mele din adolescență, e o fantasmă juvenilă, nu insist. Știu sigur că paradisul terestru e situat undeva în Kenya, în Tanzania, s-ar putea ca Abdulrazak Gurnah să aibă dreptate. Din această pricină „cuvioasă” am citit În umbra omului, prin decembrie 1995. Mă ghidez după note și sublinieri. Pentru că erau, probabil, geniale, notele cu creionul s-au șters...
N-am mai răsfoit cartea lui Jane Goodall de cînd i-am „dat” cele 4 steluțe (prin 2019). N-am scris nimic atunci. Am amînat recenzia. I-a venit vremea. În treacăt fie spus, mi-ar fi plăcut să fiu „primatolog”, să mă cațăr neobservat în copaci și să privesc prin binoclu la „strămoși”. E o meserie curată. Din păcate, jocul întîmplării și al morții a vrut altceva. Am substituit cunoașterea directă a ținuturilor africane cu aceea dobîndită prin cărți.
Jane Goodall (n. 1934, va împlini 89 de ani pe 3 aprilie) și-a propus să arate că între om și cimpanzeu există o asemănare nebănuită (pînă la observațiile sale). Deși nu știm unde vom ajunge, se vede imediat de unde „venim”. Nu trebuie să fim invidioși. Din sportivi și elastici cum am fost cîndva, am devenit treptat melomani, citim cărți despre cimpanzei, mîncăm icre negre și salată boeuf. Din păcate, nu mai știm să facem tumbe...
Prin cărțile ei, Jane Goodall a desființat cîteva definiții venerabile ale omului, a distrus niște stereotipuri. De pildă: omul e singura specie făuritoare de unelte. Dar sintagma „homo faber” e o descriere inexactă. Dacă ar fi exactă, atunci cimpanzeul ar intra în specia omului (ar fi și el om), ceea ce nu e cazul (o spun cu tristețe). Cimpanzeii folosesc fire de iarbă pentru a scoate furnici dintr-un mușuroi și a le înfuleca la desert (pp.41-45). Nu sînt, așadar, vegetarieni puri (vegani, stricto sensu). Acceptă, de altfel, și carnea de „purceluș de tufișuri” (p.82). De regulă, însă, țin postul cu o rigurozitate mai mare decît bigoții.
Mai mult: cimpanzeii nu folosesc doar unelte de-a gata. Sînt cazuri cînd le produc. Autoarea oferă un exemplu amuzant: „Evered s-a cățărat într-un copac, s-a oprit brusc și cu chipul aproape de coaja copacului a început să se uite într-o scorbură. A luat o mînă de frunze, le-a mestecat o vreme, le-a scos din gură și le-a înfundat în scorbură. Cînd le-a scos, am văzut strălucirea picăturilor de apă. Evered a supt lichidul din buretele confecționat și l-a băgat din nou în scorbură” (p.112).
O altă definiție eronată este aceea care pretinde că „omul e singurul animal capabil să-și amîne o plăcere”. M. Ralea și Traian Herseni considerau această definiție desăvîrșită. Nu e chiar așa. Jane Goodall oferă un exemplu amuzant. Cimpanzeul Figan amînă să culeagă o banană, fiindcă un altul, Goliath, mai puternic decît el, e pe-aproape. Părăsește locul și așteaptă să plece Goliath. Apoi se întoarce și culege „fructul oprit” (pp.110-111).
Altfel, cimpanzeii sînt afectuoși între ei (pp.34-35), se salută prin gesturi, cooperează, vînează în grup, se joacă (p.177), respectă o ierarhie.
Riscul care îl pîndește pe primatolog este antropomorfismul. Și cimpanzeul observat observă și îl poate imita / maimuțări pe observator. Jane Goodall pare conștientă de acest risc (pp.157-158). (21.01.23, sîmbătă)
N-am mai răsfoit cartea lui Jane Goodall de cînd i-am „dat” cele 4 steluțe (prin 2019). N-am scris nimic atunci. Am amînat recenzia. I-a venit vremea. În treacăt fie spus, mi-ar fi plăcut să fiu „primatolog”, să mă cațăr neobservat în copaci și să privesc prin binoclu la „strămoși”. E o meserie curată. Din păcate, jocul întîmplării și al morții a vrut altceva. Am substituit cunoașterea directă a ținuturilor africane cu aceea dobîndită prin cărți.
Jane Goodall (n. 1934, va împlini 89 de ani pe 3 aprilie) și-a propus să arate că între om și cimpanzeu există o asemănare nebănuită (pînă la observațiile sale). Deși nu știm unde vom ajunge, se vede imediat de unde „venim”. Nu trebuie să fim invidioși. Din sportivi și elastici cum am fost cîndva, am devenit treptat melomani, citim cărți despre cimpanzei, mîncăm icre negre și salată boeuf. Din păcate, nu mai știm să facem tumbe...
Prin cărțile ei, Jane Goodall a desființat cîteva definiții venerabile ale omului, a distrus niște stereotipuri. De pildă: omul e singura specie făuritoare de unelte. Dar sintagma „homo faber” e o descriere inexactă. Dacă ar fi exactă, atunci cimpanzeul ar intra în specia omului (ar fi și el om), ceea ce nu e cazul (o spun cu tristețe). Cimpanzeii folosesc fire de iarbă pentru a scoate furnici dintr-un mușuroi și a le înfuleca la desert (pp.41-45). Nu sînt, așadar, vegetarieni puri (vegani, stricto sensu). Acceptă, de altfel, și carnea de „purceluș de tufișuri” (p.82). De regulă, însă, țin postul cu o rigurozitate mai mare decît bigoții.
Mai mult: cimpanzeii nu folosesc doar unelte de-a gata. Sînt cazuri cînd le produc. Autoarea oferă un exemplu amuzant: „Evered s-a cățărat într-un copac, s-a oprit brusc și cu chipul aproape de coaja copacului a început să se uite într-o scorbură. A luat o mînă de frunze, le-a mestecat o vreme, le-a scos din gură și le-a înfundat în scorbură. Cînd le-a scos, am văzut strălucirea picăturilor de apă. Evered a supt lichidul din buretele confecționat și l-a băgat din nou în scorbură” (p.112).
O altă definiție eronată este aceea care pretinde că „omul e singurul animal capabil să-și amîne o plăcere”. M. Ralea și Traian Herseni considerau această definiție desăvîrșită. Nu e chiar așa. Jane Goodall oferă un exemplu amuzant. Cimpanzeul Figan amînă să culeagă o banană, fiindcă un altul, Goliath, mai puternic decît el, e pe-aproape. Părăsește locul și așteaptă să plece Goliath. Apoi se întoarce și culege „fructul oprit” (pp.110-111).
Altfel, cimpanzeii sînt afectuoși între ei (pp.34-35), se salută prin gesturi, cooperează, vînează în grup, se joacă (p.177), respectă o ierarhie.
Riscul care îl pîndește pe primatolog este antropomorfismul. Și cimpanzeul observat observă și îl poate imita / maimuțări pe observator. Jane Goodall pare conștientă de acest risc (pp.157-158). (21.01.23, sîmbătă)
July 12, 2008
My tattered and beloved copy of this book now bears the inscription:
Denise
Follow Your Heart
Jane Goodall
I read this book about ten years ago, and to this day it remains one of my favorites. Jane Goodall had gone to secretary school and just happened to have a connection to the Leakey family, whose discoveries have shaped our view of evolution today. A young woman with no prior knowledge about chimpanzees finds herself in the middle of the Gombe, following chimps as they go about their daily business. Ultimately, these close cousins to our own species became her passion. This book is so touching and wonderful. I was completely captivated by the stories of David and Goliath, Fanny, Flo, and the rest of the gang. Once you've read it, you'll never look at chimps the same way again.
Denise
Follow Your Heart
Jane Goodall
I read this book about ten years ago, and to this day it remains one of my favorites. Jane Goodall had gone to secretary school and just happened to have a connection to the Leakey family, whose discoveries have shaped our view of evolution today. A young woman with no prior knowledge about chimpanzees finds herself in the middle of the Gombe, following chimps as they go about their daily business. Ultimately, these close cousins to our own species became her passion. This book is so touching and wonderful. I was completely captivated by the stories of David and Goliath, Fanny, Flo, and the rest of the gang. Once you've read it, you'll never look at chimps the same way again.
May 28, 2015
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.
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.
July 25, 2022
Louis and Mary Leakey were ground breaking British paleoanthropologists and archaeologists whose work importantly demonstrated that humans evolved in Africa. Coming along behind them in the the field of study regarding primates were three others who had worked with them: Biruté M.F. Galdikas, living alongside orangutans, Diane Fossey studying mountain gorillas, and Jane Goodall working with chimpanzees. These three leading female primatologists formed a group of what Louis Leakey (presumably tongue-in-cheek) called “Trimates”.
In 1960, when she was just 26, Jane Goodall travelled from England to what is now Tanzania and ventured into the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. Her task was to observe and record their behaviour in the wild and densely forested mountainside of Gombe, above the lake. For three months she only caught distant glimpses of them, but finally they came to accept her almost as one of themselves.
This book is the first edition of In the Shadow of Man, published in 1971 when Jane Goodall published her works as “Jane van Lawick-Goodall”. It is beautifully illustrated with photographs on glossy paper, taken by her husband Hugo van Lawick. Most are full page, but sometimes there are two to a page. They are in groups throughout the book, sometimes one page and sometimes several, in both colour and black and white. Hugo van Lawick had filmed the TV series “On Safari” for Armand and Michaela Denis, as well as his freelance wildlife photography. He was regarded as one of the best wildlife photographers in the world.Inside the covers, front and back are family trees: the dynasties of the six chimpanzees which form the study.
Chimpanzees are human's nearest relative. Jane Goodall studied their families life and social hierarchies, their loyalties - and also their various vendettas, their sexual behaviour, their treatment of both young and old. All have similarities and are relevant to the human condition. Interestingly Jane Goodall applied some of the principles she learned on bringing up her own child, also called Hugo or “Grublin”, who was born in 1967.
I shall leave this edition at my default rating of three stars, as I shall be reading the text on kindle.
In 1960, when she was just 26, Jane Goodall travelled from England to what is now Tanzania and ventured into the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. Her task was to observe and record their behaviour in the wild and densely forested mountainside of Gombe, above the lake. For three months she only caught distant glimpses of them, but finally they came to accept her almost as one of themselves.
This book is the first edition of In the Shadow of Man, published in 1971 when Jane Goodall published her works as “Jane van Lawick-Goodall”. It is beautifully illustrated with photographs on glossy paper, taken by her husband Hugo van Lawick. Most are full page, but sometimes there are two to a page. They are in groups throughout the book, sometimes one page and sometimes several, in both colour and black and white. Hugo van Lawick had filmed the TV series “On Safari” for Armand and Michaela Denis, as well as his freelance wildlife photography. He was regarded as one of the best wildlife photographers in the world.Inside the covers, front and back are family trees: the dynasties of the six chimpanzees which form the study.
Chimpanzees are human's nearest relative. Jane Goodall studied their families life and social hierarchies, their loyalties - and also their various vendettas, their sexual behaviour, their treatment of both young and old. All have similarities and are relevant to the human condition. Interestingly Jane Goodall applied some of the principles she learned on bringing up her own child, also called Hugo or “Grublin”, who was born in 1967.
I shall leave this edition at my default rating of three stars, as I shall be reading the text on kindle.
March 17, 2018
Nearly 50 years after being published , In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall is still a fascinating read.
This is one of those special books where after reading, I wished for the existence of time machines. I wanted to be there with the author as she conducted her ground breaking research in the Gombe area, not seeing chimpanzees in a zoo.
The content, covering the ground breaking research amidst the close contact with the chimpanzees, is itself enough reason to read this book. But the story is also very well written. Not too clinical but still science based with a fair amount of humanity around the simian cast of characters. In the Shadow of Man may not quite achieve the same level of scientific wonder conveyed by say Carl Sagan or Rachel Carson’s writings but it is very close.
Jane Goodall is truly a treasure. My daughter went to see her lecture last year and was amazed at the vitality and passion of this woman now in her 80’s.
Five stars
This is one of those special books where after reading, I wished for the existence of time machines. I wanted to be there with the author as she conducted her ground breaking research in the Gombe area, not seeing chimpanzees in a zoo.
The content, covering the ground breaking research amidst the close contact with the chimpanzees, is itself enough reason to read this book. But the story is also very well written. Not too clinical but still science based with a fair amount of humanity around the simian cast of characters. In the Shadow of Man may not quite achieve the same level of scientific wonder conveyed by say Carl Sagan or Rachel Carson’s writings but it is very close.
Jane Goodall is truly a treasure. My daughter went to see her lecture last year and was amazed at the vitality and passion of this woman now in her 80’s.
Five stars
Want to read
December 6, 2024If there are such things as heroes, Jane Goodall is it.
February 9, 2021
I had previously read another book by Jane Goodall (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), which was in fact written after this one, so much of the chimpanzee-related content was not new to me. It was, nonetheless, still fascinating to read about. But what was new to me, was her description of how she got started on the project which became her life's work.
Jane Goodall did not naturally get set onto a scientist's path, and I had to wonder whether it would be possible for someone like her to achieve such status now. She had to go to secretarial school and take a succession of office jobs, before eventually getting the opportunity to visit a friend in Kenya. From there she managed to meet Louis Leakey, and it was his sponsorship of her that allowed her to embark on the extraordinarily productive scientific career that she has had. There are talented young would-be scientists now, with Ph.D.'s, who are unable to find a way to make it a career. No doubt the difference is in part due to Goodall's extraordinary interest, enthusiasm, keen intellect, and winning personality, but I have to think also that some of it was that it was the mid-20th century and not the early 21st. My impression is that most fields in modern science are rather more closed off to the talented amateur, which Goodall most certainly was when she began.
In her first year, in order to get permission from the local government authorities to go to Gombe (where she found the chimpanzees which made her and her work famous), she had to bring her mother along. I am picturing the response if my daughter asked my wife to go with her to a remote part of the world, without electricity or plumbing. Jane Goodall must have had an extraordinary mother as well.
The other part of this book which I don't recall being discussed in as much detail in "The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior", is her early attempts to figure out how to study such a reclusive species. Inevitably, they involved some learning, as for example when they found that feeding them bananas would help to bring them out where they could be seen interacting with one another, but then later realizing that too many and too frequent feedings were resulting in an excessive number of confrontations. More formal scientific papers all too often leave out the early mistakes and false starts, and present only the final process which was arrived at.
During the course of the time narrated in this book, Goodall met and married a National Geographic photographer Hugo van Lawick, and the book has several dozen pictures by him of chimpanzees (and a few of other primates, such as baboons or humans).
The decision by Goodall to name, rather than number, the chimpanzees she was studying, was allegedly controversial at the time, because it was thought to endanger one's scientific objectivity. I have no doubt that Goodall's decision was the correct one, but I can understand the motivation behind the aversion to it. Chimpanzees are, when viewed as humanlike, a bewildering mix of affection and kindness and horrible cruelty. Every species of animal which is not wholly vegetarian (and many that are) is capable of barbaric cruelty, but chimpanzees are so close to human in their appearance and behavior that it makes it difficult to avoid an emotional response when even just reading about, for example, their penchant for settling all disputes with either violence or the threat of it. It's not that one literally expects them to have been able to "talk things out", but so much of the rest of their behavior has echoes in that of humans, that there is a visceral revulsion to the treatment of females by males, for example. On the other hand, that even the young, overactive and confrontational new alpha male will tolerate being climbed on or pestered by very young chimpanzees who he may not be related to, is rather endearing.
Reading about chimpanzees is not for the faint of heart, or those who wish to believe that all our more brutish instincts are a result of the ills of civilization, but it is a fascinating glimpse at what our ancestors might have resembled; this book also gives us a fascinating glimpse of the extraordinary scientist who has taught us so much about them.
Jane Goodall did not naturally get set onto a scientist's path, and I had to wonder whether it would be possible for someone like her to achieve such status now. She had to go to secretarial school and take a succession of office jobs, before eventually getting the opportunity to visit a friend in Kenya. From there she managed to meet Louis Leakey, and it was his sponsorship of her that allowed her to embark on the extraordinarily productive scientific career that she has had. There are talented young would-be scientists now, with Ph.D.'s, who are unable to find a way to make it a career. No doubt the difference is in part due to Goodall's extraordinary interest, enthusiasm, keen intellect, and winning personality, but I have to think also that some of it was that it was the mid-20th century and not the early 21st. My impression is that most fields in modern science are rather more closed off to the talented amateur, which Goodall most certainly was when she began.
In her first year, in order to get permission from the local government authorities to go to Gombe (where she found the chimpanzees which made her and her work famous), she had to bring her mother along. I am picturing the response if my daughter asked my wife to go with her to a remote part of the world, without electricity or plumbing. Jane Goodall must have had an extraordinary mother as well.
The other part of this book which I don't recall being discussed in as much detail in "The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior", is her early attempts to figure out how to study such a reclusive species. Inevitably, they involved some learning, as for example when they found that feeding them bananas would help to bring them out where they could be seen interacting with one another, but then later realizing that too many and too frequent feedings were resulting in an excessive number of confrontations. More formal scientific papers all too often leave out the early mistakes and false starts, and present only the final process which was arrived at.
During the course of the time narrated in this book, Goodall met and married a National Geographic photographer Hugo van Lawick, and the book has several dozen pictures by him of chimpanzees (and a few of other primates, such as baboons or humans).
The decision by Goodall to name, rather than number, the chimpanzees she was studying, was allegedly controversial at the time, because it was thought to endanger one's scientific objectivity. I have no doubt that Goodall's decision was the correct one, but I can understand the motivation behind the aversion to it. Chimpanzees are, when viewed as humanlike, a bewildering mix of affection and kindness and horrible cruelty. Every species of animal which is not wholly vegetarian (and many that are) is capable of barbaric cruelty, but chimpanzees are so close to human in their appearance and behavior that it makes it difficult to avoid an emotional response when even just reading about, for example, their penchant for settling all disputes with either violence or the threat of it. It's not that one literally expects them to have been able to "talk things out", but so much of the rest of their behavior has echoes in that of humans, that there is a visceral revulsion to the treatment of females by males, for example. On the other hand, that even the young, overactive and confrontational new alpha male will tolerate being climbed on or pestered by very young chimpanzees who he may not be related to, is rather endearing.
Reading about chimpanzees is not for the faint of heart, or those who wish to believe that all our more brutish instincts are a result of the ills of civilization, but it is a fascinating glimpse at what our ancestors might have resembled; this book also gives us a fascinating glimpse of the extraordinary scientist who has taught us so much about them.
February 10, 2023
It’s pretty mind blowing to realize just how recently it was that we knew next to nothing about our closest living relatives, Chimpanzees. Reading Jane Goodall’s account of being the first person to make incredible discoveries, like the fact that Chimpanzees make and use tools, is genuinely thrilling.
Because of the striking physical, behavioural and cognitive similarities we share with the other surviving Great Apes, any examination of our cousins inevitably leads to an examination of ourselves and a meditation on our evolutionary history. Goodall’s observation of wild Chimpanzees lead her to make some fascinating guesses about the origins of many human behaviours.
In The Shadow Of Man shows us that the world that Chimpanzees inhabit is just as full of love, compassion, betrayal, violence and tragedy as human history, and urges us to protect our nonhuman primate family.
Because of the striking physical, behavioural and cognitive similarities we share with the other surviving Great Apes, any examination of our cousins inevitably leads to an examination of ourselves and a meditation on our evolutionary history. Goodall’s observation of wild Chimpanzees lead her to make some fascinating guesses about the origins of many human behaviours.
In The Shadow Of Man shows us that the world that Chimpanzees inhabit is just as full of love, compassion, betrayal, violence and tragedy as human history, and urges us to protect our nonhuman primate family.
May 30, 2022
“At that moment there was no need for any scientific knowledge to understand his communication of reassurance. The soft pressure of his fingers spoke to me not through my intellect but through a more primitive emotional channel: the barrier of untold centuries which has grown up during the separate evolution of man and chimpanzee was, for those few seconds, broken down.
It was a reward far beyond my greatest hopes.”
IN THE SHADOW OF MAN
I did it! I completed my Summer 2021 Reading List. The book list contained books about animal cruelty, conservation, and the environment. In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall is one of my favorites from the list. This book is Jane Goodall’s beginning. She has always known she wanted to go to Africa and study animals, particularly chimpanzees. At the time, no one would have guessed that Jane Goodall would have gone on to become a world-renown animal activist, primatologist, anthropologist, and scientist. This book dives into her first introductions to the many diverse African cultures and peoples. She first came to Kenya and then later on settled in Tanzania. Once she earns their respect and acceptance she is able to have her first encounters with the chimpanzees. She was to study their behaviors and was able to give the world an in-depth look at these incredible creatures.
One of the things that I appreciated the most about this book is that Goodall writes about the successful encounters, but also their mistakes. I learned so much about chimpanzees from this read. Their emotions and their family units were the most fascinating for me. It broke my heart when I read the part about the death of the baby chimpanzee. We often think that animals are so disconnected from their young. When they grieve just like we do.
There was also the amazing discovery of how the chimpanzees created their own tools. It was a moment that redefined the study of chimpanzees. Jane Goodall’s passion for the animals is palpable. Their safety and survival come first and foremost. We need more of her humanity and care in this world. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
It was a reward far beyond my greatest hopes.”
IN THE SHADOW OF MAN
I did it! I completed my Summer 2021 Reading List. The book list contained books about animal cruelty, conservation, and the environment. In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall is one of my favorites from the list. This book is Jane Goodall’s beginning. She has always known she wanted to go to Africa and study animals, particularly chimpanzees. At the time, no one would have guessed that Jane Goodall would have gone on to become a world-renown animal activist, primatologist, anthropologist, and scientist. This book dives into her first introductions to the many diverse African cultures and peoples. She first came to Kenya and then later on settled in Tanzania. Once she earns their respect and acceptance she is able to have her first encounters with the chimpanzees. She was to study their behaviors and was able to give the world an in-depth look at these incredible creatures.
One of the things that I appreciated the most about this book is that Goodall writes about the successful encounters, but also their mistakes. I learned so much about chimpanzees from this read. Their emotions and their family units were the most fascinating for me. It broke my heart when I read the part about the death of the baby chimpanzee. We often think that animals are so disconnected from their young. When they grieve just like we do.
There was also the amazing discovery of how the chimpanzees created their own tools. It was a moment that redefined the study of chimpanzees. Jane Goodall’s passion for the animals is palpable. Their safety and survival come first and foremost. We need more of her humanity and care in this world. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
December 26, 2020
Jane Goodall was the first person to discover or confirm many elements of chimpanzee culture. In this book she gave first hand account of her adventure in Gombe National Park, Tanzania that lead to those discoveries. Even though she was talking about her research she did not hesitate to make it personal. She called each of the chimpanzee by a name, her own life, kid was also a part of the story. She was very clear to distinguish between the discoveries and speculations. After reading this book I have a better idea about how chimpanzee is humans' closest kin.
April 1, 2025
One of the most eye-opening and immeasurably beautiful books I’ve ever read. I’ve always been sensitive to monkeys. I love them too much.
, but learning about their complex lives and personalities and tremendous capacity for play and love and compassion and pranking and sorrow, well I wanted say it shines a light on the beauty of such profoundly human experiences….how small minded I am. It shines a light on the brotherly nature of all mystery in the world, and above all the universal connection of all creatures and creation. From hyphae to humans
The part when David greybeard held Jane Goodel’s hand for no reason but to comfort her actually made me feel an emotion idk the word for yet. Maybe holyshitilovechimpanzeeandanimalssomuch
, but learning about their complex lives and personalities and tremendous capacity for play and love and compassion and pranking and sorrow, well I wanted say it shines a light on the beauty of such profoundly human experiences….how small minded I am. It shines a light on the brotherly nature of all mystery in the world, and above all the universal connection of all creatures and creation. From hyphae to humans
The part when David greybeard held Jane Goodel’s hand for no reason but to comfort her actually made me feel an emotion idk the word for yet. Maybe holyshitilovechimpanzeeandanimalssomuch
July 21, 2013
Highly recommend this read for both the scientific research and the delightful observations of Jane Goodall. Did you know her efforts lead to so many concepts about animals that we now take for granted? For example, that they have feelings, develop bonds and demonstrate some degree of grief when a family member dies. This has lead to research in dogs, birds and cats with similar insights!
August 16, 2022
Una dintre cele mai frumoase și emoționante cărți citite vreodată.
Drăgăleșenia puilor, relațiile familiale, tovărășia dintre masculi, inteligența și inventivitatea unora dintre ei, modul în care cercetătorii au reușit să câștige încrederea cimpanzeilor sălbatici atât de temuți de localnici, toate acestea și multe altele fac din În Umbra Omului un must read.
Relația mama-pui la cimpanzei este ceva aparte, puiul e dependent de mamă până atinge maturitatea și poate deveni la rândul său părinte, iar dispariția mamei poate provoca depresia sau chiar moartea puiului de cimpanzeu care are sub trei ani de viață.
Am citit ediția românească din 1984, o cărțulie format mic pe care mi-o amintesc pe noptiera părinților mei și pe care am tot comentat-o cu mama pe messenger zilele astea, pentru că nu mă pot opri să vorbesc despre David Barbă Colilie și Goliath și Flo și puii ei. 🐒🐵🧡
A apărut și versiunea re-editată a cărții la editura Art și mi-ar plăcea să cred că există un capitol update despre soarta cimpanzeilor lui Jane Goodall, mai ales că am citit într-un articol online că unii dintre puii de cimpanzeu studiați la Gombe Stream în anii '60 sunt încă în viață. Versiunea editurii Art e deja în wishlist-ul meu.
Toată admirația pentru muncă lui Jane Goodall și mă bucur că nu a fost dată uitării, ba chiar a fost lansată o păpușă Barbie după chipul faimoasei și atât de frumoasei Jane din anii '60. Cine știe câte fetițe vor fi inspirate să îi urmeze exemplul în carieră și, prin cercetarea lor, să facă viața mai ușoară animalelor din sălbăticie sau din captivitate?
Drăgăleșenia puilor, relațiile familiale, tovărășia dintre masculi, inteligența și inventivitatea unora dintre ei, modul în care cercetătorii au reușit să câștige încrederea cimpanzeilor sălbatici atât de temuți de localnici, toate acestea și multe altele fac din În Umbra Omului un must read.
Relația mama-pui la cimpanzei este ceva aparte, puiul e dependent de mamă până atinge maturitatea și poate deveni la rândul său părinte, iar dispariția mamei poate provoca depresia sau chiar moartea puiului de cimpanzeu care are sub trei ani de viață.
Am citit ediția românească din 1984, o cărțulie format mic pe care mi-o amintesc pe noptiera părinților mei și pe care am tot comentat-o cu mama pe messenger zilele astea, pentru că nu mă pot opri să vorbesc despre David Barbă Colilie și Goliath și Flo și puii ei. 🐒🐵🧡
A apărut și versiunea re-editată a cărții la editura Art și mi-ar plăcea să cred că există un capitol update despre soarta cimpanzeilor lui Jane Goodall, mai ales că am citit într-un articol online că unii dintre puii de cimpanzeu studiați la Gombe Stream în anii '60 sunt încă în viață. Versiunea editurii Art e deja în wishlist-ul meu.
Toată admirația pentru muncă lui Jane Goodall și mă bucur că nu a fost dată uitării, ba chiar a fost lansată o păpușă Barbie după chipul faimoasei și atât de frumoasei Jane din anii '60. Cine știe câte fetițe vor fi inspirate să îi urmeze exemplul în carieră și, prin cercetarea lor, să facă viața mai ușoară animalelor din sălbăticie sau din captivitate?
December 27, 2024
This book was truly a journey as Goodall takes readers through both the joys and tragedies of chimpanzee life in Gombe. This book opened my eyes to the primitive human behaviors that are not at all different from those of chimpanzees; we must continue to understand the worlds of animals in their habitats and social structures. Then, we can begin to understand ourselves.
July 18, 2020
I would say this book ranks as one of the most wonderful, most pleasurable, most romantic records of a scientific research-adventure. Dr. Jane Goodall is often referred to as one of 'Leakey's Angels', but it seems more true to say that Dr. Louis Leakey is Dr. Jane Goodall's angel, for he set her on the path of one of the most eventful research lives ever-- from accompaniment of Louis Leakey's team to a paleoanthropological expedition, to a trial run observing vervet monkeys, to establishment of a successful research camp of chimpanzee studies at Gombe, to worldwide renown, Dr. Jane Goodall has experienced it all and tells it in this book.
With this book, Dr. Goodall shares the bountifulness of the explorer- research scientist's life with us-- there are stories of moonlit observations, heavy rains and chimpanzee 'rain dances,' leopard encounters, painfully steep mountain climbs, and walks in the forest where tree trunks and buttresses are metres thick, lianas decorate branches and the forest canopy is a hundred metres above human height. Not everything is endless biologist fun-- Dr. Goodall has been beaten severely on the head by chimpanzees, and showered painfully with twigs before the chimps became habituated to her presence.
Dr. Goodall's research career is remarkable because of her output of original discoveries- she confirmed that chimpanzees eat meat, she discovered and proved that chimpanzees hunt their prey, and she discovered and proved that chimps not only use tools, they also make tools, twice, in the form of termite-catching leaf stems and water-catching leaf sponges. She also originated the fruitful convention of naming chimps and regarding them as individuals, with personality characteristics and intentions. Perhaps more importantly, Dr. Goodall initiated a decades-long continuous tracking and study of a chimpanzee group's social relationships, thus bringing to light the social structure of chimpanzees. She revealed and proved the existence of male chimp alliances, the details of infant-rearing, threat displays and grooming activities in the establishment of hierarchy, reversals in domination-submission relationships, female promiscuity and solicitation of sex, and the stages of adolescence and adulthood in chimpanzees. All of these discoveries are included in the book.
This book is really interesting because it is a picture of what our own human lineage could have been. By some evolutionary accident, our lineage split from the chimpanzee line, and if this had not been so, each of us right now, could be squatting and pant-hooting in Africa, twirling leaf stems and feasting on juicy termites or ripping hapless red colobus monkeys apart.
With this book, Dr. Goodall shares the bountifulness of the explorer- research scientist's life with us-- there are stories of moonlit observations, heavy rains and chimpanzee 'rain dances,' leopard encounters, painfully steep mountain climbs, and walks in the forest where tree trunks and buttresses are metres thick, lianas decorate branches and the forest canopy is a hundred metres above human height. Not everything is endless biologist fun-- Dr. Goodall has been beaten severely on the head by chimpanzees, and showered painfully with twigs before the chimps became habituated to her presence.
Dr. Goodall's research career is remarkable because of her output of original discoveries- she confirmed that chimpanzees eat meat, she discovered and proved that chimpanzees hunt their prey, and she discovered and proved that chimps not only use tools, they also make tools, twice, in the form of termite-catching leaf stems and water-catching leaf sponges. She also originated the fruitful convention of naming chimps and regarding them as individuals, with personality characteristics and intentions. Perhaps more importantly, Dr. Goodall initiated a decades-long continuous tracking and study of a chimpanzee group's social relationships, thus bringing to light the social structure of chimpanzees. She revealed and proved the existence of male chimp alliances, the details of infant-rearing, threat displays and grooming activities in the establishment of hierarchy, reversals in domination-submission relationships, female promiscuity and solicitation of sex, and the stages of adolescence and adulthood in chimpanzees. All of these discoveries are included in the book.
This book is really interesting because it is a picture of what our own human lineage could have been. By some evolutionary accident, our lineage split from the chimpanzee line, and if this had not been so, each of us right now, could be squatting and pant-hooting in Africa, twirling leaf stems and feasting on juicy termites or ripping hapless red colobus monkeys apart.
March 2, 2021
3.5*
Once again, if it weren't for my book club, I wouldn't have read this book. Who hasn’t heard of Jane Goodall? I was prepared that this memoir would focus on her work with chimpanzees. She began her research in the sixties and started out observing the chimpanzees from a distance with binoculars, gradually getting closer to them and gaining their trust. At the beginning she was faced with a lot of obstacles and she still had to learn about the new terrain around her. I was impressed how she gradually overcame all troubles with such determination and calm. When she began her research, her mother accompanied her to the Gombe Stream Valley. Later she met a photographer Hugo who would become her husband. Goodall gives names to the chimpanzees that she studied in the wild and tells us about their life stories. It was heart-warming but also heart-breaking.
I learned some interesting facts about our close relatives:
- After giving birth the placenta dangles out of the mother. They don't attempt to cut the umbilical cord. This confirms what I learned from a mid-wife that a lot of essential minerals are still transmitted through the umbilical cord to the baby. As long as the cord doesn't pose any fatal danger to the baby, there's no rush to cut it really.
- In the chimpanzee world, there are only single mothers. Males don't play an important role in the baby chimpanzee's life since the mother doesn't even know who really fathered her child.
- Unlike bonobos, Goodall didn't observe any homosexuality in chimpanzees. Males will only start touching other males in times of stress.
- Smiling doesn't always come from a positive place. Often a smile originates from a nervous and social discomfort, trying to win the favor of the other. A chimpanzee grins as a sign of submission to superiors.
- Grooming is an important past time for chimpanzees. It's how they reassure themselves and their relationships that everything is okay.
"For those who love to be alone with nature I need add nothing further; for those who do not, no words of mine could ever convey, even in part, the almost mystical awareness of beauty and eternity that accompanies certain treasured moments. And, though the beauty was always there, those moments came upon me unaware: when I was watching the pale flush preceding dawn; or looking up through the rustling leaves of some giant forest tree into the greens and browns and black shadows that occasionally ensnared a bright fleck of the blue sky; or when I stood, as darkness fell, with one hand on the still-warm trunk of a tree and looked at the sparkling of an early moon on the never still, sighing water of the lake."
Once again, if it weren't for my book club, I wouldn't have read this book. Who hasn’t heard of Jane Goodall? I was prepared that this memoir would focus on her work with chimpanzees. She began her research in the sixties and started out observing the chimpanzees from a distance with binoculars, gradually getting closer to them and gaining their trust. At the beginning she was faced with a lot of obstacles and she still had to learn about the new terrain around her. I was impressed how she gradually overcame all troubles with such determination and calm. When she began her research, her mother accompanied her to the Gombe Stream Valley. Later she met a photographer Hugo who would become her husband. Goodall gives names to the chimpanzees that she studied in the wild and tells us about their life stories. It was heart-warming but also heart-breaking.
I learned some interesting facts about our close relatives:
- After giving birth the placenta dangles out of the mother. They don't attempt to cut the umbilical cord. This confirms what I learned from a mid-wife that a lot of essential minerals are still transmitted through the umbilical cord to the baby. As long as the cord doesn't pose any fatal danger to the baby, there's no rush to cut it really.
- In the chimpanzee world, there are only single mothers. Males don't play an important role in the baby chimpanzee's life since the mother doesn't even know who really fathered her child.
- Unlike bonobos, Goodall didn't observe any homosexuality in chimpanzees. Males will only start touching other males in times of stress.
- Smiling doesn't always come from a positive place. Often a smile originates from a nervous and social discomfort, trying to win the favor of the other. A chimpanzee grins as a sign of submission to superiors.
- Grooming is an important past time for chimpanzees. It's how they reassure themselves and their relationships that everything is okay.
"For those who love to be alone with nature I need add nothing further; for those who do not, no words of mine could ever convey, even in part, the almost mystical awareness of beauty and eternity that accompanies certain treasured moments. And, though the beauty was always there, those moments came upon me unaware: when I was watching the pale flush preceding dawn; or looking up through the rustling leaves of some giant forest tree into the greens and browns and black shadows that occasionally ensnared a bright fleck of the blue sky; or when I stood, as darkness fell, with one hand on the still-warm trunk of a tree and looked at the sparkling of an early moon on the never still, sighing water of the lake."
March 18, 2014
Bought the book on a whim and kept it sealed for a month since there were various functions being held at home. Once that got over, I started reading the book and was hooked from the word go, right in the introduction by Jane Goodall.
It was a strange situation! I wanted to read the book in one go, I wanted to savour the book bit by bit like a delicacy. Despite stopping to think over what I read and deliberately keeping the book away, I finished reading it in 6 days. It's very rarely that a book holds my interest from the word go till the last sentence and this is one of them!! I simply loved it.
This is supposed to be the documentation of the pathbreaking behavioural study of the Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall, who as a young girl went and stayed in the dense jungles of Africa, for the love of the work she was doing. Her unique way of describing things, with so much of understanding and empathy,is what draws one to the book.It practically reads like a story and draws one unknowingly to the the individual apes who exhibit such distinct characteristics and personality, like their human counterparts. One starts feeling the moods of Flo, Fifi, David, Goliath and others and as the book progresses, one can almost visualise them. Jane Goodall has a wonderful simple way of describing things and makes the reader move with her.
The book since it's publication in the '70s, has been read by scores of people and has influenced many. I had seen documentaries made on Jane Goodall but I wonder, how an avid reader like me, missed out on reading the book earlier!!
Initially I thought, I liked the book because of my academic background, but then when I suggested and showed the book to two other avid readers in the family, with accounting and IT background, they also fell for the book and I had a tough time rescuing the book from them, for my own reading. So I have no hesitation now, to recommend it to my friends.
It was a strange situation! I wanted to read the book in one go, I wanted to savour the book bit by bit like a delicacy. Despite stopping to think over what I read and deliberately keeping the book away, I finished reading it in 6 days. It's very rarely that a book holds my interest from the word go till the last sentence and this is one of them!! I simply loved it.
This is supposed to be the documentation of the pathbreaking behavioural study of the Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall, who as a young girl went and stayed in the dense jungles of Africa, for the love of the work she was doing. Her unique way of describing things, with so much of understanding and empathy,is what draws one to the book.It practically reads like a story and draws one unknowingly to the the individual apes who exhibit such distinct characteristics and personality, like their human counterparts. One starts feeling the moods of Flo, Fifi, David, Goliath and others and as the book progresses, one can almost visualise them. Jane Goodall has a wonderful simple way of describing things and makes the reader move with her.
The book since it's publication in the '70s, has been read by scores of people and has influenced many. I had seen documentaries made on Jane Goodall but I wonder, how an avid reader like me, missed out on reading the book earlier!!
Initially I thought, I liked the book because of my academic background, but then when I suggested and showed the book to two other avid readers in the family, with accounting and IT background, they also fell for the book and I had a tough time rescuing the book from them, for my own reading. So I have no hesitation now, to recommend it to my friends.
May 3, 2021
ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾದ ತಾನ್ಜೆನಿಯಾ ಭಾಗದ ಕಿಗೋಮ ಪ್ರದೇಶದ ಈಗಿನ ಗೋಂಬೆ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಉದ್ಯಾನವನದಲ್ಲಿ ೧೯೬೦ ರ ಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿಂಪಾಂಜಿಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ನಡೆಸಿದ ಜೇನ್ ಗುಡೇಲ್ ಳ ಪುಸ್ತಕವಿದು.ಚಿಂಪಾಂಜಿಗಳ ನಡೆವಳಿಕೆ, ಜೀವನ ಕ್ರಮ, ಸಂಘ ಜೀವನ, ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಬಾಂಧವ್ಯ (social bonding) ಇವೆಲ್ಲದರ ಕುರಿತು ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಇದೆ. ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಓದುತ್ತಾ ಹೋದಂತೆ, ತನ್ನ ಜೀವಮಾನದ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಪಾಲನ್ನು ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾದ ಕಾಡುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿಂಪಾಂಜಿಗಳ ಅಧ್ಯಯನಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಕಳೆದ, ಅದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಹಗಲಿರುಳೆನ್ನದೆ ದುಡಿದ ಜೇನ್ ಗುಡೇಲ್ ಅಸಾಮಾನ್ಯಳೆನಿಸುತ್ತಾಳೆ. ಜೀವವಿಕಾಸದ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದ ಮಾನವನಿಗೆ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಯಾಗಿ ಉಳಿದಿರುವ ಚಿಂಪಾಜಿಗಳ ಕುರಿತು ತಿಳಿಯಲು ಇದೊಂದು ಉತ್ತಮ ಪುಸ್ತಕ.
ಆಕೆಯನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ, ಆಕೆಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನವನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ ಸಾಕ್ಷ್ಯಚಿತ್ರವೂ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮವಾಗಿದೆ; ಒಮ್ಮೆಯಾದರೂ ನೋಡಲೆಬೇಕಾದುದು.
ಆಕೆಯನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ, ಆಕೆಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನವನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ ಸಾಕ್ಷ್ಯಚಿತ್ರವೂ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮವಾಗಿದೆ; ಒಮ್ಮೆಯಾದರೂ ನೋಡಲೆಬೇಕಾದುದು.
August 4, 2013
Goodall is a great writer. She loves her work, and she makes readers love it too. She has a great, subtle sense of humor and a beautiful style: as passionate as she is about her work, she does not take herself too seriously.
October 18, 2024
Three things I pondered reading this magical book as a trinitarian monotheist (who just read 'Living With Other Creatures' by Richard Bauckham).
1. I love naturalists. This is the absolute best of what it means to be a scientist - observation and delight over creatures and things.
2. Although Goodall and I do not quite share an anthropology (but I think we may share a belief in the immortality of the spirit), I am committed to the idea of being a fellow creature with other created things.
3. I am more convinced than ever of the need for Christian ethologies that are not dependent on Aristotelian ideas about the rational faculties belonging to only to humankind.
1. I love naturalists. This is the absolute best of what it means to be a scientist - observation and delight over creatures and things.
2. Although Goodall and I do not quite share an anthropology (but I think we may share a belief in the immortality of the spirit), I am committed to the idea of being a fellow creature with other created things.
3. I am more convinced than ever of the need for Christian ethologies that are not dependent on Aristotelian ideas about the rational faculties belonging to only to humankind.
December 4, 2013
Rating 4* out of 5. I've had a fascination with the great apes since National Geographic made a feature of orangutans sometime around 1980. I couldn't read, but I saw the picture of a child about my age sharing a bath with an orangutan baby and crying. I could relate. "Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans in Borneo" by Birute Galdikas was the first book I read. It was her story in National Geographic too. I read about Dian Fossey's "Gorillas in the mist" (or possibly "Woman in the Mists, I'm not sure - could've been both) and Jane Goodall's "Reason for hope: a spiritual journey" at around the same time, second half of the 90's. I always wanted to read more and the only reason I didn't would have been due to inaccessibility. Still it is strange that it took me so long to get around to "In the Shadow of Man", which I have wanted to read for 18 years!
When Jane Goodall first began to study chimpanzees - thanks to Dr. Leakey's foresight - no one had observed chimpanzees in the wild before. Here was a single, young, white woman sent to the darkest depths of Africa to study ferocious mammals. Her persistence and tolerance opened the doors of insight. We now know that chimpanzees use tools, hunt, and that their childhoods are long. There are many similarities between us and our closest cousins, although I am glad evolution took us in a different direction. The chimpanzee society is extremely hierarchical and male-dominant. The females must be submissive and when she's sexually available - displayed by a huge pink rump ten days a month when she's sexually mature, unless she's pregnant or lactating - she must submit to sex or rape with numerous amorous males. No thanks.
Jane Goodall only dwells on the chimps. She doesn't mention the hardship of living isolated in the jungle much. Only once in a while there are hints at how difficult it must have been, particularly in the beginning. The animals, the jaguars, the snakes, the flies... And the solitude. Although there must have been many stressors, that sort of life also seems as idyllic and far from the rat race as it's possible to come. Reading this book I was envious and did consider whether my choice to study business economics because I knew it would be easy to get a job really was the best move. Then again, I like modern comforts. Such as a vermin free bed, a warm house, food which I do not have to kill myself and a steady income. Not being chased by wild animals is also definitely a plus. So no. No regrets. Just huge admiration for the amazing Jane Goodall. Read this book!
When Jane Goodall first began to study chimpanzees - thanks to Dr. Leakey's foresight - no one had observed chimpanzees in the wild before. Here was a single, young, white woman sent to the darkest depths of Africa to study ferocious mammals. Her persistence and tolerance opened the doors of insight. We now know that chimpanzees use tools, hunt, and that their childhoods are long. There are many similarities between us and our closest cousins, although I am glad evolution took us in a different direction. The chimpanzee society is extremely hierarchical and male-dominant. The females must be submissive and when she's sexually available - displayed by a huge pink rump ten days a month when she's sexually mature, unless she's pregnant or lactating - she must submit to sex or rape with numerous amorous males. No thanks.
Jane Goodall only dwells on the chimps. She doesn't mention the hardship of living isolated in the jungle much. Only once in a while there are hints at how difficult it must have been, particularly in the beginning. The animals, the jaguars, the snakes, the flies... And the solitude. Although there must have been many stressors, that sort of life also seems as idyllic and far from the rat race as it's possible to come. Reading this book I was envious and did consider whether my choice to study business economics because I knew it would be easy to get a job really was the best move. Then again, I like modern comforts. Such as a vermin free bed, a warm house, food which I do not have to kill myself and a steady income. Not being chased by wild animals is also definitely a plus. So no. No regrets. Just huge admiration for the amazing Jane Goodall. Read this book!
July 24, 2011
I read Jane Goodall's In the Shadow of Man (Houghton Mifflin 1971) years ago as research for a paleo-historic novel I was writing. I needed background on the great apes so I could show them acting appropriately in their primeval setting tens of thousands of years ago. While I did get a marvelous treatise from this book on their wild environ, I also got my first introduction to the concept that they are almost-human, maybe even human cousins.
But I digress. Back to Jane Goodall.
This is the memoir that began her career, that relays her start in the field of anthropology, how she conducted her early studies and the price she paid personally and professionally for her perseverance. She had no formal background in primatology or fieldwork when she began this study. She entered Tanzania with an open mind, a patient attitude and an interest in exploring the adventures of chimpanzees in the wild. From there, she invented everything else that would allow her to investigate these fascinating primates. In the book, she shares every step with readers--how she followed the chimps until they finally accepted her presence without fleeing, how she learned to identify each animal and in that way track their lives, how she learned to understand their verbal and body language, how she learned to be a better mother by watching Flo's parenting skills.
At the time she wrote this book, chimpanzees were not considered human--still aren't. Goodall approached her fieldwork expecting to see them fail the tests of human-ness, things like using tools, caring for their families, working as a group, planning their actions. Each hurdle she put in front of them, they lept across, until her work destroyed all the rules about what made you and I human. She did for chimpanzees what Dian Fosse did for the gorillas and Birute Galdikas did for orangutans: she humanized them.
By the time I finished this book, I realized that chimpanzees have a good and fulfilling life. They have adapted their lives to suit their environment. They lack man's wanderlust, restricting themselves to smaller and smaller parts of Africa every year, but by Jane Goodall's account, they enjoy their lives.
Can we say as much for ourselves?
But I digress. Back to Jane Goodall.
This is the memoir that began her career, that relays her start in the field of anthropology, how she conducted her early studies and the price she paid personally and professionally for her perseverance. She had no formal background in primatology or fieldwork when she began this study. She entered Tanzania with an open mind, a patient attitude and an interest in exploring the adventures of chimpanzees in the wild. From there, she invented everything else that would allow her to investigate these fascinating primates. In the book, she shares every step with readers--how she followed the chimps until they finally accepted her presence without fleeing, how she learned to identify each animal and in that way track their lives, how she learned to understand their verbal and body language, how she learned to be a better mother by watching Flo's parenting skills.
At the time she wrote this book, chimpanzees were not considered human--still aren't. Goodall approached her fieldwork expecting to see them fail the tests of human-ness, things like using tools, caring for their families, working as a group, planning their actions. Each hurdle she put in front of them, they lept across, until her work destroyed all the rules about what made you and I human. She did for chimpanzees what Dian Fosse did for the gorillas and Birute Galdikas did for orangutans: she humanized them.
By the time I finished this book, I realized that chimpanzees have a good and fulfilling life. They have adapted their lives to suit their environment. They lack man's wanderlust, restricting themselves to smaller and smaller parts of Africa every year, but by Jane Goodall's account, they enjoy their lives.
Can we say as much for ourselves?
October 10, 2017
The first of Goodall's works, this book details her early, pioneering research on chimpanzees. As Gould said in the introduction, this book is less about sterile experiments in a lab and more on observing the chimps in all their majesty. The light, seemingly effortless style keeps a lay reader engaged throughout. One is taken through the journey of Goodall's entry into this field of research, her early struggles, hardships and failures, and the success is studying chimpanzees in a manner never done before. From providing a deep understanding of the life cycle of chimpanzees to their interpersonal and group dynamics, and tracking deeply endearing histories of several individual chimps, Goodall convinces the reader of the kinship that we share with these magnificent creatures.
This is one of the rare science books I have read (the other one from recent memory being "The Invention of Nature") that served not only to educate, but arouse a sense of wonder and mystery in the reader. To appreciate the interconnections and complexities of natural systems, and admire the richness of nature is perhaps what the study of science is truly about. Goodall has done well to induce that sense of wonder and joy. This work is a bravura performance by a scientific legend.
This is one of the rare science books I have read (the other one from recent memory being "The Invention of Nature") that served not only to educate, but arouse a sense of wonder and mystery in the reader. To appreciate the interconnections and complexities of natural systems, and admire the richness of nature is perhaps what the study of science is truly about. Goodall has done well to induce that sense of wonder and joy. This work is a bravura performance by a scientific legend.
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March 26, 2025O relatare extrem de interesantă despre viața și relațiile sociale ale cimpanzeilor din Gombe Stream, povestite de Jane Goodall, de la începutul cercetării sale (inclusiv cum a ajuns să facă această muncă fascinantă fără să aibă studiile necesare, inițial!) până spre anii 70. Ambiția ei și capacitatea de a urma evenimentele, cât și traiul lor de zi cu zi, cu atâta dedicare, este de apreciat. Sunt multe momente emoționante intense - nașteri, morți, momente în care cimpanzeii mai mari își ajută frații, urmărirea relațiilor dintre mame-copii, sau dintre frați la bătrânețe. Sunt multe momente la care merită să revii (de tandrețe, de descoperire - a uzului de unelte, de exemplu, de joacă interspecii) și multe asupra căreia aș fi vrut să citesc mai multă reflexie (despre etică profesională, despre intervențiea asupra condițiilor de viață ale cimpanzeilor, despre momentele în care a fost necesară uciderea din milă/compasiune, despre relațiile dintre babuini și cimpanzei ca și obiecte de studiu, despre colonialism și rasism). Iar la final, Goodall face niște generalizări despre supremația omului în care cred că, totuși, nu mai crede :)
În sine, cartea mi se pare o lectură fascinantă, prin care am trecut, poate, prea repede.
În sine, cartea mi se pare o lectură fascinantă, prin care am trecut, poate, prea repede.
January 7, 2024
I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall I love Jane Goodall
October 22, 2025
What a legend RIP Dr Jane Goodall. It was fun getting an insightful view into her life and her passion for studying Chimps in the wild.
October 27, 2025
I don’t think that I will ever conflate monkeys and chimps again, now that I’ve read this book.
I do wish Jane Goodall had explained how on earth she at such a young age with so little experience managed to live in the jungle for all that time. I know she had help, but still. She described sleeping alone some nights with the chimps in the heart of the jungle, or walking back to camp in the dead of night through the long grass where there were leopards, snakes, etc.… I scratch my head about how she practically managed it. Alas, that’s not what the book is about! It is about chimpanzees.
She does a great job telling you all about wild chimpanzees via personal anecdotes and eyewitness accounts. Through her observations, you get a good sense of how looks, mannerisms, and talent vary among chimpanzees, and the many ways that they share traits of our own.
I do wish Jane Goodall had explained how on earth she at such a young age with so little experience managed to live in the jungle for all that time. I know she had help, but still. She described sleeping alone some nights with the chimps in the heart of the jungle, or walking back to camp in the dead of night through the long grass where there were leopards, snakes, etc.… I scratch my head about how she practically managed it. Alas, that’s not what the book is about! It is about chimpanzees.
She does a great job telling you all about wild chimpanzees via personal anecdotes and eyewitness accounts. Through her observations, you get a good sense of how looks, mannerisms, and talent vary among chimpanzees, and the many ways that they share traits of our own.
May 12, 2022
It's hard to tell who or what is more fascinating: Jane Goodall, her lifelong research, or the chimpanzees of Gombe? In my opinion, they are all inseparable.
April 2, 2012
Last week my friend Sandy and I went to see a movie about Jane Goodall's life which she was there to present and then had a Q&A session and signed autographs. She's 77! Sandy said that was definitely one of her items on her bucket list. Whenever Sandy and I get together something strange happens. She ended up with a touch of the flu that struck just as we were leaving and then throwing up outside of the car on the street. I'm sure my neighbors, because natch it was back in the 'hood, thought we'd been out drinking in excess. ( which we have done, too, but not with driving).
So- Jane Goodall was marvelous. Her answers to questions showed a sharp intelligence combined with an empathy that was quite moving and inspring. She only briefly, and in response to a question, touched on factory farms but said she gave up eating meat after that because she couldn't bear to eat the fear and pain the meat represented. I felt that And I determined to eat less meat ( I can't say I'll go vegan because I want to eat eggs and cheese.) I was impressed that she didn't attempt to change anyone's mind or eating habits. She just said that if you want to make a difference there then ask your local grocery store to carry cruelty-free or free range foods.
I bought her book "In The Shadow of Man". It's her first and probably a tad out of date, judging from the forward. I had it signed. She writes in a very engaging manner, as though she had an eye on keeping the reader amused. Very astute of her. She leads with the tension of whether her program would be allowed and how to despair at the chimps avoiding her, easily. To the wonder of their acceptance to the thrill of the chimps's individual stories, a few of which left me in tears. Particularly the polio epidemic. The scene of the one chimp crawling into camp with a paralysed leg and all the others looking at him with horror and fear and he`s looking over his shoulder to see what they`re scared of is both heart-breaking and hilarious.
I think the biggest surprise is that they hunt and eat meat. Not only hunting, but hunting infants of a species they also play with as children themselves. I have to admit to being shocked by that. I`m not sure why. Do I have a rose-coloured lens when looking at animals? No, I'm a trained veterinary technologist and have worked in a number of clinics, including a research facility.
I think it's just of all the things I've heard over the years of Jane Goodall's research that had never come up. Perhaps, in the interest of garnering funding for the research, that was one thing that would turn people's emotions against the chimps. I've been interested in her work for ages and never heard of that.
April 21, 2021
Phenomenal for both its observations about our closest primate relatives, and the amazing adventure that continues to be Dr. Goodall’s life. What a treasure she is.
Notes
————-
“The individuality of chimps matters, and ultimately sets the events of their history as a species.”
“Chimpanzees are not so much the shadow of man as our mirror, only slightly blurred by the mists of time.”
“Once we came face to face with a young male lion... slowly we backed away while he watched, his tail twitching.”
“Since we had left Nairobi violence and bloodshed had erupted in the Congo... Kigoma was overrun by refugees.”
“I saw one female (chimp) newly arrived in a group, hurry up to a big male and hold her hand toward him. Almost regally he reached out, clasped her hand in his, drew it toward him, and kissed it with his lips.”
“...The leopard went out of sight as it started to climb the hill... I returned to the Peak, but the feeling of unseen eyes watching me was too much.”
“...Baboons are very destructive. I have watched them pulling apart a whole roof as they searched through the thatch for insects.”
“I longed to be able to swing through the branches like the chimps... I loved to sit in a forest when it was raining... hear the pattering of drops on the leaves... utterly enclosed in a dim twilight world of greens and browns and dampness.”
“... Male chimpanzees react to the start of a heavy rain by performing a rain dance...”
“As the rainy season progressed the grass shot up until it was over 12 feet in some places... I could not tell where I was going and had to stop every so often and climb a tree to get my bearings.”
“... There were periods when I seemed to be wet through for days on end. I think I spent some of the coldest hours of my life in those mountains, sitting in clammy clothes in an icy wind watching chimpanzees.”
“For the first few days my body was crisscrossed by scratches from the tooth-edged grass, but after that my skin hardened.”
“That year it was still raining in June... The whole area was like a gigantic tropical greenhouse... Sometimes I felt I simply had to climb into a tree in order to breathe, and once I was up there I wondered why on earth our ancestors ever left the branches.”
“My alarm clock was always set for 5:30 in the morning... I never felt the need for food, and seldom for water when I was roaming the forests... after returning to camp as darkness fell, always there were notes to transcribe; often I was working until far into the night.”
“Louis (Leakey) wrote to tell me about Hugo... At the same time he wrote to Vanne telling her that he had found someone just right as a husband for Jane.”
“I sat close beside (David Greybeard)... I very slowly moved my hand toward his shoulder and made a grooming movement... he actually allowed me to groom him...”
“Menstrual periods... in the female chimp occur about every 35 days.”
“Figan... raised his hands even higher in the age-old gesture of surrender.”
“Mike’s rise to the number one or top-ranking position in the chimpanzee community was both interesting and spectacular... it seemed that Mike actually planned his charging displays, almost, one might say, in cold blood.”
“... I feared for Goliath’s sanity. After attacking a couple of youngsters... a glint in his eyes that to us looked not far from madness. We actually had a soldered mesh iron cage... we retreated inside when Goliath’s temper was at its worst.”
“It is one of the most striking aspects of chimpanzee society that creatures who can so quickly become roused to frenzies of excitement and aggression can for the most part maintain such relaxed and friendly relations with each other.”
“Mr. Worzle had extraordinary eyes, for the part around the iris was white instead of being heavily pigmented with brown as in other chimpanzees. His eyes therefore exactly resembled those of a human.”
“It is amazing how much of a chimpanzee’s food seems to pass through the digestive tract only partially digested.”
“Even on these nights our conversation was almost entirely ‘chimp’; if our work had also not been our pleasure it is doubtful whether we should have been able to keep up the pace. We were all totally immersed in the goings-on of our chimpanzee group... it was like being spectators of life in some village. Endless fascination, endless enjoyment, endless work.”
“The chimpanzee almost always eats an egg together with a large mouthful of leaves; only when sufficient leaves have been stuffed into his mouth along with an egg does he crack the shell. Then he sits savoring the egg-leaf wad for minutes on end.”
“The adult male chimpanzee is at least 3 times stronger than a man.”
“... Only a few chimpanzee mothers in the wild will break the umbilical chord themselves.”
“Babies less than 5 months of age are normally protected by their mothers from all contact with other chimpanzees except their own siblings.”
“It is fairly common for young chimpanzees and young baboons to play together... such games end with aggressive behavior from one or the other. Gilka’s friendship with Goblina was quite different: the contact between the two youngsters was nearly always gentle, and they often deliberately sought each other’s company.”
“It is actually easier to find one’s way about without a torch; even when there is no moon, the light from the stars is usually sufficient...”
“... Whereas a mother will hurry toward the sound if she hears her lost child crying, she herself makes no loud call to indicate her whereabouts to the child.... it may be hours or even days before the two are reunited.”
“... The male juvenile normally shows a good deal of respect for his mother... If we offered a banana the son usually stood back and waited for his mother to take the fruit.”
“Almost all of the gestures of courtship are also a part of threatening behavior.”
“Never, however, have we seen anything that could be regarded as homosexuality in chimpanzees.”
“His persistence was certainly rewarded eventually, for 2 years later Gigi seemed almost to prefer Humphrey to any other male.”
“Female chimpanzees have evolved in such a way that they are receptive to males for a mere 10 days per month...”
...There are 2 cases on record of chimpanzees actually taking off with African babies - presumably as prey, since when recovered from an adult male chimpanzee, one infant had its limbs partially eaten.”
“Often I have watched chimpanzees begging for meat... the possessor of the carcass is willing to share the meat with others, a characteristic not recorded for other nonhuman primate species in the wild.”
“Chimpanzees nearly always eat meat slowly, usually chewing leaves with each new mouthful as though to savor the taste for as long as possible.”
“Meat is a much liked, much prized food item... The brain appears to be a special delicacy.”
“...The 2 adult males were both uttering loud chuckles of chimp laughter as they tickled each other.”
“... Some male baboons were very aggressive and able to scare most of the chimps.”
“Since both chimpanzees and baboons are well known for their intelligence, it is not really surprising that to some extent individuals of the 2 species are able to communicate with each other.”
“... Man and chimp either have evolved gestures and postures along a most remarkable parallel or that we share... an ancestor in the dim and very distant past... who communicated with his kind by means of kissing and embracing, touching and patting, and holding hands.”
“... The chimpanzee has a primitive awareness of Self.”
Notes
————-
“The individuality of chimps matters, and ultimately sets the events of their history as a species.”
“Chimpanzees are not so much the shadow of man as our mirror, only slightly blurred by the mists of time.”
“Once we came face to face with a young male lion... slowly we backed away while he watched, his tail twitching.”
“Since we had left Nairobi violence and bloodshed had erupted in the Congo... Kigoma was overrun by refugees.”
“I saw one female (chimp) newly arrived in a group, hurry up to a big male and hold her hand toward him. Almost regally he reached out, clasped her hand in his, drew it toward him, and kissed it with his lips.”
“...The leopard went out of sight as it started to climb the hill... I returned to the Peak, but the feeling of unseen eyes watching me was too much.”
“...Baboons are very destructive. I have watched them pulling apart a whole roof as they searched through the thatch for insects.”
“I longed to be able to swing through the branches like the chimps... I loved to sit in a forest when it was raining... hear the pattering of drops on the leaves... utterly enclosed in a dim twilight world of greens and browns and dampness.”
“... Male chimpanzees react to the start of a heavy rain by performing a rain dance...”
“As the rainy season progressed the grass shot up until it was over 12 feet in some places... I could not tell where I was going and had to stop every so often and climb a tree to get my bearings.”
“... There were periods when I seemed to be wet through for days on end. I think I spent some of the coldest hours of my life in those mountains, sitting in clammy clothes in an icy wind watching chimpanzees.”
“For the first few days my body was crisscrossed by scratches from the tooth-edged grass, but after that my skin hardened.”
“That year it was still raining in June... The whole area was like a gigantic tropical greenhouse... Sometimes I felt I simply had to climb into a tree in order to breathe, and once I was up there I wondered why on earth our ancestors ever left the branches.”
“My alarm clock was always set for 5:30 in the morning... I never felt the need for food, and seldom for water when I was roaming the forests... after returning to camp as darkness fell, always there were notes to transcribe; often I was working until far into the night.”
“Louis (Leakey) wrote to tell me about Hugo... At the same time he wrote to Vanne telling her that he had found someone just right as a husband for Jane.”
“I sat close beside (David Greybeard)... I very slowly moved my hand toward his shoulder and made a grooming movement... he actually allowed me to groom him...”
“Menstrual periods... in the female chimp occur about every 35 days.”
“Figan... raised his hands even higher in the age-old gesture of surrender.”
“Mike’s rise to the number one or top-ranking position in the chimpanzee community was both interesting and spectacular... it seemed that Mike actually planned his charging displays, almost, one might say, in cold blood.”
“... I feared for Goliath’s sanity. After attacking a couple of youngsters... a glint in his eyes that to us looked not far from madness. We actually had a soldered mesh iron cage... we retreated inside when Goliath’s temper was at its worst.”
“It is one of the most striking aspects of chimpanzee society that creatures who can so quickly become roused to frenzies of excitement and aggression can for the most part maintain such relaxed and friendly relations with each other.”
“Mr. Worzle had extraordinary eyes, for the part around the iris was white instead of being heavily pigmented with brown as in other chimpanzees. His eyes therefore exactly resembled those of a human.”
“It is amazing how much of a chimpanzee’s food seems to pass through the digestive tract only partially digested.”
“Even on these nights our conversation was almost entirely ‘chimp’; if our work had also not been our pleasure it is doubtful whether we should have been able to keep up the pace. We were all totally immersed in the goings-on of our chimpanzee group... it was like being spectators of life in some village. Endless fascination, endless enjoyment, endless work.”
“The chimpanzee almost always eats an egg together with a large mouthful of leaves; only when sufficient leaves have been stuffed into his mouth along with an egg does he crack the shell. Then he sits savoring the egg-leaf wad for minutes on end.”
“The adult male chimpanzee is at least 3 times stronger than a man.”
“... Only a few chimpanzee mothers in the wild will break the umbilical chord themselves.”
“Babies less than 5 months of age are normally protected by their mothers from all contact with other chimpanzees except their own siblings.”
“It is fairly common for young chimpanzees and young baboons to play together... such games end with aggressive behavior from one or the other. Gilka’s friendship with Goblina was quite different: the contact between the two youngsters was nearly always gentle, and they often deliberately sought each other’s company.”
“It is actually easier to find one’s way about without a torch; even when there is no moon, the light from the stars is usually sufficient...”
“... Whereas a mother will hurry toward the sound if she hears her lost child crying, she herself makes no loud call to indicate her whereabouts to the child.... it may be hours or even days before the two are reunited.”
“... The male juvenile normally shows a good deal of respect for his mother... If we offered a banana the son usually stood back and waited for his mother to take the fruit.”
“Almost all of the gestures of courtship are also a part of threatening behavior.”
“Never, however, have we seen anything that could be regarded as homosexuality in chimpanzees.”
“His persistence was certainly rewarded eventually, for 2 years later Gigi seemed almost to prefer Humphrey to any other male.”
“Female chimpanzees have evolved in such a way that they are receptive to males for a mere 10 days per month...”
...There are 2 cases on record of chimpanzees actually taking off with African babies - presumably as prey, since when recovered from an adult male chimpanzee, one infant had its limbs partially eaten.”
“Often I have watched chimpanzees begging for meat... the possessor of the carcass is willing to share the meat with others, a characteristic not recorded for other nonhuman primate species in the wild.”
“Chimpanzees nearly always eat meat slowly, usually chewing leaves with each new mouthful as though to savor the taste for as long as possible.”
“Meat is a much liked, much prized food item... The brain appears to be a special delicacy.”
“...The 2 adult males were both uttering loud chuckles of chimp laughter as they tickled each other.”
“... Some male baboons were very aggressive and able to scare most of the chimps.”
“Since both chimpanzees and baboons are well known for their intelligence, it is not really surprising that to some extent individuals of the 2 species are able to communicate with each other.”
“... Man and chimp either have evolved gestures and postures along a most remarkable parallel or that we share... an ancestor in the dim and very distant past... who communicated with his kind by means of kissing and embracing, touching and patting, and holding hands.”
“... The chimpanzee has a primitive awareness of Self.”
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