Product Details
Hardcover
180 pages
University of California Press
Published 2003
From Publishers Weekly
In this absorbing collection of 128 duotones, primatologist Waal shares evidence he has collected over the past 30 years ton primate sociability and emotional intelligence. Rather than harp on the tired theme, "they're more like us than you think," Waal instead offers warmly personal explanations of the impressive diversity of behavior among primate species, including chimpanzees, baboons, macaques, capuchin monkeys and bonobos. Humor and personality are counterbalanced by deftly inserted scientific concepts and theories, and Waal's expressive photos draw viewers into the "soap opera" of the primates' lives. A chimpanzee angrily demanding his food back from a thief is contrasted with a macaque monkey meekly allowing a higher-ranking female to remove stored food from his mouth. "If we consider a range of dominance `styles,' from egalitarian to despotic, rhesus monkeys are clearly at the latter end of the spectrum," says Waal. In contrast, bonobos, pictured in a range of unforgettable activities, including French-kissing, copulating missionary style and spinning on a rope until getting dizzy, are "the hippies of the primate world." While the printing is disappointingly dim and poorly contrasted, this book crosses the species barrier with grace.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Scientific American
"Human laughter derives from the primate's 'play face.' Not only do the human and ape expressions look alike--with half-open mouth and relaxed muscles around the eyes--the accompanying sounds, too, have much in common. In bonobos, laughter is a hoarse, rhythmic breathy sound heard especially during intense tickling matches. In the ... photo, a juvenile bonobo shows the 'classic' play face with the upper teeth covered." So writes de Waal in this book of exceptional photographs and witty,... read more
Book Description
For more than three decades Frans de Waal, the author of best-sellers such as Chimpanzee Politics and Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape, has studied monkeys and apes in zoos, research parks, and field settings. Photographing his subjects over the years, de Waal has compiled a unique family album of our closest animal relatives. To capture the social life of primates, and their natural communication, requires intimate knowledge, which is abundantly present here, in the work of one of the world's foremost primatologists. Culled from the thousands of images de Waal has taken, these photographs capture social interaction in bonobos, chimpanzees, capuchin monkeys, baboons, and macaques showing the subtle gestures, expressions, and movements that elude most nature photographers or casual observers.
De Waal supplies extended captions discussing each photograph, offering descriptions that range from personal observations and impressions to professional interpretation. The result is a view of our primate family that is both intensely moving and personal, also richly evocative of all that science can tell us of primate society. In his introduction, de Waal elaborates on his work, his mission in this volume, and the particular challenges of animal action photography. |
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