Chimpanzee Cultures: With a Foreword by Jane Goodall (Paperback)

~ Richard W. Wrangham (Editor), (Editor), Frans B. M. de Waal (Editor), Paul Heltne (Editor), Jane Goodall (Foreword)
Key Phrases: understanding chimpanzees, primate ecology, primate behavior, New York, Arnhem Zoo, Detroit Zoo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Chimpanzee Cultures" is a title to catch the eye...The aims are made explicit at the outset: to create a discipline of cultural primatology' by using the tools to the cultural sciences and encouraging the use of ethnography in comparing chimpanzee populations...The quality of material on the subject animals is high. All the papers are original, many containing previously unpublished data, and they do an excellent job of highlighting behavioural diversity...This is a book chiefly aimed at the scholarly community, yet it carries an important message for all of us. Wild chimpanzee populations continue to decline through habitat destruction and hunting for bush-meat: the bare bones of this are made clear in the book's final chapter by Jane Goodall. The dwindling of any species through human short-sightedness is depressing, but chimpanzees present a special case. "Chimpanzee Cultures" provides ample evidence that chimpanzees are not simply carbon copies of one another. The species may survive but the extinction of cultures may be proceeding as we speak. -- Thomas Sambrook "Times Higher Education Supplement" --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Chimpanzee Cultures beautifully conveys the experience of working with chimpanzees, our closest living relative...[It] gives us a better appreciation of the place of our own species in Nature.
--Jane Goodall

This volume presents the best up-to-date collection of the current state of knowledge of most aspects of chimpanzee behaviour, and it spells out the dangers now facing the apes and their environments. The study of chimpanzee cultures is crying out for more information from the increasingly isolated and diminishing communities of these apes. This book shows what has to be done, and where.
--James R. Anderson (Animal Behaviour )

Chimpanzee Cultures is a title to catch the eye...The aims are made explicit at the outset: to create a discipline of `cultural primatology' by using the tools to the cultural sciences and encouraging the use of ethnography in comparing chimpanzee populations...The quality of material on the subject animals is high. All the papers are original, many containing previously unpublished data, and they do an excellent job of highlighting behavioural diversity...This is a book chiefly aimed at the scholarly community, yet it carries an important message for all of us. Wild chimpanzee populations continue to decline through habitat destruction and hunting for bush-meat: the bare bones of this are made clear in the book's final chapter by Jane Goodall. The dwindling of any species through human short-sightedness is depressing, but chimpanzees present a special case. Chimpanzee Cultures provides ample evidence that chimpanzees are not simply carbon copies of one another. The species may survive but the extinction of cultures may be proceeding as we speak.
--Thomas Sambrook (Times Higher Education Supplement )

This excellent volume introduces the state of the art in primatology. Its lessons are worth learning. There can be no philosophical understanding of what it means to be human apart from understanding what it means to be chimpanzee.
--Barry Allen (Common Knowledge )

This book is, quite simply, a wonderful review of current knowledge of the Pan genus. (Quarterly Review of Biology )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674116631
• ISBN-13: 978-0674116634
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #981,360 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great summary of chimpanzee behavior, December 21, 1998

By	James L. Nettles (Dallas) - See all my reviews

The book surveys our current scientific understanding of chimpanzee behavior. Both common chimpanzees and bonobos are covered. I doubt any reasonable person who read this book would challenge the notion that the term "culture" is applicable to chimpanzees. I particularly liked the sections on social relations and cognition. Anyone wanting to understand human behavior would do well to read this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scientific papers on chimpanzee culture, November 6, 2003

By	Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Chimpanzee Cultures: With a Foreword by Jane Goodall (Hardcover)

More scientific in nature than most books on chimpanzees, the editors have compiled a series of papers written by noted primatologists on the subject of chimpanzee culture. The book is divided into sections: Ecology, Social Relations, and Cognition. With articles titled like "Biobehavorial Roots of Language: A Comparative Perspective of Chimpanzee, Child, and Culture," you know you aren't reading a book intended for the mass market. These papers often contain objective measures of the authors' studies represented in graphs and charts, with minimal photographic illustration. However, for anyone researching the details of chimpanzee culture, this book offers a wealth of insight from a variety of sources.

I recommend this book only for those seriously interested in chimpanzees and primate social structure. Others will find this book too dry and scientific, especially when compared to the more anecdotal books written by Jane Goodall.