Walking with the Great Apes » (Reprint)

Known for her books that illuminate the wonders of nature for both children and adults, Sy Montgomery "is a modern miracle," says Book magazine, "bawdy, brave, inventive, prophetic, hellbent on loving this planet."

Three astounding women scientists have in recent years penetrated the jungles of Africa and Borneo to observe, nurture, and defend humanity's closest cousins. Jane Goodall has worked with the chimpanzees of Gombe for nearly 50 years; Diane Fossey died in 1985 defending the mountain gorillas of Rwanda; and Biruté Galdikas lives in intimate proximity to the orangutans of Borneo. All three began their work as protégées of the great Anglo-African archeologist Louis Leakey, and each spent years in the field, allowing the apes to become their familiars and ultimately waging battles to save them from extinction in the wild.

Their combined accomplishments have been mind-blowing, as Goodall, Fossey, and Galdikas forever changed how we think of our closest evolutionary relatives, of ourselves, and of how to conduct good science. From the personal to the primate, Sy Montgomery explores the science, wisdom, and living experience of three of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century.

Publishers Weekly

In this study of three great female primatologists, science journalist Montgomery moves beyond biography into ethology, taking a step that goes well beyond even her subjects' research. Goodall, Fossey and Galdikas each made a similar leap, the author contends, moving from observers and recorders to an almost shamanistic quest to enter the world of the apes they studied. These personal transformations are sketchily supported with anecdotes from the field, personal interviews and even a jarring account of an attempt to contact Fossey, after her death, via channeling. Montgomery adds little to Farley Mowat's 1988 biography of Fossey, Woman in the Mists , but she offers a few fresh angles on Goodall, Galdikas and other characters, human and ape, met before in their books. In an epilogue, Montgomery offers the intriguing view of these scientists as pioneers of a particularly female way of scientific knowing that deserves fuller argument than three portraits allow. Photos. (Mar.)

Forward xi

Preface xvii

Part I Nurturers

1 Biruté Galdikas and Supinah 1

2 Jane Goodall and Flo 17

3 Dian Fossey and Digit 36

Part II Scientists

4 The Prodigal Faith of Louis Leakey 57

5 "Science with a Capital S" 75

6 The Sacrifice of Nyiramachabelli 111

7 A Study in Patience 142

Part III Warriors

8 Crusader: The Moral Dilemma of Jane Goodall 167

9 Sorceress: The Madness of Dian Fossey 184

10 Diplomat: The Politics of Biruté Galdikas 203

Epilogue: Shamans 221

Selected Bibliography 241

Organizations 244

Acknowledgments 245