Beauty And The Beasts: Ape, Woman and Evolution - Softcover

Jahme, Carole

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1860497756 ISBN 13: 9781860497759

Publisher: Virago, 2001

Synopsis

Steaming jungles, hirsute primates, attractive women - a photogenic cocktail which aspiring writers and Hollywood directors have been drawn to for decades. But how much truth do these fictionalised images hold? From Jane Goodall to Dian Fossey, primatology is one of the only areas of science in which women actually dominate. Yet while the discoveries of female primatologists has lain the foundation of what is now know of ape behaviour, the methodology has often been criticised for being over-emotional, unscientific and in many cases plain mad. And yet women continue to find out more about ape behaviour than their male counterparts and our knowledge of ourselves continues to be strengthened by their research. Beauty and the Beasts is an in-depth look at the pioneering work of women in this field and the first book to unite the plethora of material that lies behind the key players. It debates some fairly controversial theories about their motivation and methodology - escapist Tarzan fantasy? Spiritual quest? Soap opera fixation? Warped motherhood/sexuality drive? and comes to some surprising conclusions.

About this title

Review

Women have played a large and crucial part in "primatology"--the science of the great apes. Most people, for instance, will have heard of Dian Fossey, whose life and death amid the apes of central Africa was the inspiration for the film Gorillas in the Mist. Others will know of Jane Goodall, and her unflinching studies into the cruelty, violence and pathos of chimpanzee social life.

But as this refreshing and accessible book points out, there's lots more names that should be added to the proud roster of "ape women". Scientists such as Shirley McGrill, Mary Leakey and Birute Galdikas have all braved the hazards of the field (such as disease, civil war and rape by orang-utans), to come back with eye-witness accounts of simian behaviour. Disciplines as diverse as sexology and virology have benefited from their research.

Quite why women should be so adept at primatology is a moot point, and one that Jahme addresses. Is it typically female patience, empathy, tolerance and intuition? Or just the best scientists doing the best work? Either way, Jahme's intriguing text is a fitting monument to half a century of dauntless and exacting scientific endeavour.--Sean Thomas

Review

That rare thing, a book in which journalism and scholarship unite in a riveting insight into a new branch of knowledge... (BEATRIX CAMPBELL, SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY )

Jahme's book is extensively researched and extends well beyond Leakey's trimates into the new generaltions of primatologists ... these women who have done so much to raise awareness of the desperate plight of our nearest non-human relatives are real heroin (FINANCIAL TIMES )

Interweaves the study of monkeys and apes with the personalities who carry out this research. There is much of interest in this book for both the non-scientist and the specialist...Jahme is to be commended. (THES )

Women have played a large and crucial part in "primatology"--the science of the great apes. Most people, for instance, will have heard of Dian Fossey, whose life and death amid the apes of central Africa was the inspiration for the film Gorillas in the M (But as this refreshing and accessible book points out, there's lots more names that should be added to the proud roster of "ape women". Scientists such as Shirley McGrill, Mary Leakey and Birute Galdikas have all braved the hazards of the field (such as d )

Edition details

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1860497756
• ISBN 13: 9781860497759
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496