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87th out of 101 books
—
31 voters
Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe
by
Jane Goodall
THROUGH A WINDOW is the dramatic saga of thirty years in the life of a community, of birth and death, sex and love, power and war. It reads like a novel, but it is one of the most important scientific works ever published. The community is Gombe, on the shores of Lake Tangganyika, where the principal residents are chimpanzees and one extraordinary woman who is their studen...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 21st 2000
by Mariner Books
(first published 1990)
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I have admired Jane Goodall ever since seeing "Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees" on TV when I was quite young. This book didn't disappoint. It is primarily a chronicle of the first thirty years of the work observing chimpanzee behavior at the Gombe reserve on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. There is a shorter summary at the end which discusses the intervening years with updates on the inhabitants of the reserve.
I have to agree with other reviews that I have read that say this book reads more...more
I have to agree with other reviews that I have read that say this book reads more...more
I was with my family at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) over the recent Christmas break and happened to see a display based on Jane Goodall’s work with the chimpanzees of Gombe on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. I’d always enjoyed primate exhibits at zoos, and the OMSI exhibit encouraged me to do some further reading.
Through a Window is Goodall’s autobiographical retrospective on her facinating career in Gombe. The stories of the chimpanzees that form the core of t...more
Through a Window is Goodall’s autobiographical retrospective on her facinating career in Gombe. The stories of the chimpanzees that form the core of t...more
Monkeys or specifically chimpanzees have never really been overwhelmingly fascinating for me. However, it's hard to feel the same blase emotions about chimps anymore. There is so much passion on these pages. This woman has dedicated her life not only studying, but learning from these animals. The book isn't just Jane Goodall's field observations in Gombe, Africa. Instead, this book feels aptly named in that one will read this as if you are peering into lives unlike your own, but lives that are p...more
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A remarkable life story of Jane Goodall's work in the Gombe, where her reasearch centre for chimpanzee behavior remains central to the understanding of primates. The families and communities of the chimps are fascinating in their complexity and extraordinary events, both heart wrenching and joyful.
I had an opportunity to visit the Gombe Park a few years ago with my daughter. We hired a fisherman to take us to the entrance on Lake Tanganika from the town of Kigoma. Greeted by the park ranger, we...more
I had an opportunity to visit the Gombe Park a few years ago with my daughter. We hired a fisherman to take us to the entrance on Lake Tanganika from the town of Kigoma. Greeted by the park ranger, we...more
I used to not be an animal person. I didn't understand animals and was thus afraid of them. When I saw a cat, for instance, I equated it with a robot. It's movements were foreign and I had no idea what was inside of it. They were unpredictable and scary.
Even when I got past that, other primates still were very scary. They were so human-like to me, but they weren't which made me uneasy. I wouldn't be surprised if other people have similar feelings when seeing them. And so when I read this, I was...more
Even when I got past that, other primates still were very scary. They were so human-like to me, but they weren't which made me uneasy. I wouldn't be surprised if other people have similar feelings when seeing them. And so when I read this, I was...more
This is a book that I am sure I will be thinking about for a long time. In reading about Jane Goodall's time studying chimpanzees in Gombe, I was amazed to learn just how much like us the chimps are. There are really aggressive, power-hungry males; there are nurturing, caring, mothering females; there are males who will never make it up the power ladder; there are females who are truly terrible mothers. There are even some who are murderers; some who are rescuers. A mother overwhelmed by twins....more
I just finished reading this book today. I have been getting into books on animals lately (read Wesley the Owl before this one) and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I have never given much thought to chimpanzees but after seeing Goodall's name referenced in Wesley the Owl I figured I needed to check it one of her books. Through a Window is fascinating from start to finish. Her style of writing keeps things interesting and you end up learning a ton about chimpanzees. The only experience I have with chimp...more
I'd been watching PBS documentaries on folks working in the field (mostly paleontologists, which is clearly quite the different profession), and I am interested in Goodall's work. A nice sequence of observations, letting us get to know the chimps she observed for so long. The closing chapter or two is didactic, which makes me consider audience--I didn't need to be repelled by lab testing and illegal poaching and black market selling of chimpanzees, but perhaps she wouldn't have been satisfied wi...more
An interesting look at the complex lives of our highly intelligent chimpanzee relatives. The complexity of their social interactions is amazing. The middle chapters get a little tedious with far more discussion of individuals than I needed--you have to be very interested in chimp behavior to hang in there with all this laborious detail. The ending chapters about the need to stop the medical research on these wonderful animals (and consequent barbaric caging) plus the future for them were very in...more
I have read every book that Jane Goodall wrote. She has an easy-going writing style that shares scientific principals easily with the layman. Probably because when she started, she was little more than a novice, going from secretarial school to the Gombe to study chimpanzees. She stayed there on and off for thirty years. This book, Through a Window (Houghton Mifflin 1990) shares her thoughts and conclusions on what she learned from that stretch of time with the chimpanzees.
The book reads like an...more
The book reads like an...more
I can't believe how much I enjoyed reading this. I thought that I would like it, but I didn't think I would be so fascinated by her studies, almost like I was seeing the chimpanzees in the wild myself.
I also never thought I would be able to relate to these real life "characters." I found my own characteristics in a few of the chimpanzees she writes about.
I also like that she doesn't come across as pure scientist, but also writes with wisdom and love.
"There are many windows through which we can...more
I also never thought I would be able to relate to these real life "characters." I found my own characteristics in a few of the chimpanzees she writes about.
I also like that she doesn't come across as pure scientist, but also writes with wisdom and love.
"There are many windows through which we can...more
I read this book a few years ago, and I enjoyed it immensely. As a biologist, I've been trained to think very objectively which made for an interesting experience when reading this book. Goodall has spent a good portion of her life living amongst chimpanzees and developed a deep connection with those she has studied. Her interpretation and writing of chimpanzees tends to be quite subjective, and I found myself being very critical as I started reading. Once I allowed myself to stop being overly c...more
For anyone who wants an insight into the basics of human nature, and a potential window into the hominid soul, this book is what you should be reading.
Goodall beautifully captures her observations and her time at Gombe, introducing us to these beautiful, very human individuals who just happen to be a separate but very closely related species from us.
From the struggles of the mothers to raise their children to adulthood, to the intertribal warfare and the mourning - and oft-times depression - of...more
Goodall beautifully captures her observations and her time at Gombe, introducing us to these beautiful, very human individuals who just happen to be a separate but very closely related species from us.
From the struggles of the mothers to raise their children to adulthood, to the intertribal warfare and the mourning - and oft-times depression - of...more
Had to read this for an anthropology course--I continued with it even after I had been tested on it (yeah, that's right--I didn't finish it by the deadline). Some areas were compelling, other times I felt like I had to force myself through a chapter. Overall, I'm glad I read it. For a person who, well, isn't an animal person, the later chapters definitely put things in perspective for me. Goodall is a persuasive writer and just a generally inspiring scientist!.
I found this truly interesting. I had taken an Anthropology of Primate Behavior class while in college and found that many of the case studies were directly taken from Jane Goodall's experiences as chronicled in this book. It reads somewhat like a novel and renewed my interest in primate behavioral evolution. What a fascinating life Jane had.
When I was about 15 years old I became enthralled with animal behavior and chimpanzees. I read everything I could about Jane Goodall and also the chimps like Lucy and Washoe that learned sign language. It was one of the reasons I majored in biology. So I picked up this book more for nostalgia than anything else. However, I got caught up in the book more than I thought I would. Reading about the chimpanzees of Gombe was like reading a novel with multi-generational characters.
An amazing amount of info regarding the behavior of chimps that make me view them in a whole new light. Goodall shares her years of observation in an interesting manner with highlights of certain primates that she not only studied but often saw herself as friends with. This book is not only educational but entertaining.
Off to Africa with an anthropologist who writes well *such folks aren't all that thick on the ground* and of course Goodall is a legend in and out of the field - Stevie Nicks actually used the line of this title in the lyrics for "Jane's Song" - an homage to guess who?
I had mixed feelings throughout this book. Initially I enjoyed reading the stories of the different chimpanzee families. After awhile, it became difficult to keep track of all of them. A bit later in the book, the stories began to feel repetitive. I enjoyed the conclusion of the book, as well as the updates she gave about some of the chimpanzees years later. Overall, I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.
This was a very interesting read chronicling some of the colorful chimp characters that the author and her teams have followed over the course of many years. There are not only interesting tidbits about chimps in general, but great stories of their lives in the wild and sobering commentary on the indignities and atrocities man has perpetrated on these very human-like animals.
This book takes off where Shadow of Man Ends. It is quite thought provoking. What parts of us are uniquely human, and what parts of us are products of us have their roots in our existence as "The Third Chimpanzee", as Jared Diamond calls us?
I recall reading this in the '90s as a child. Jane Goodall instantly became one of my heroes for life. One of the most riveting non-fiction books I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
Amazing book depicting Jane Goodall's thirty years in the Gombe National Forest studying chimpanzees. Fascinating at every turn, this book is a must read for all primate lovers!
I had to read In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall for an anthropology class. I enjoyed the book so much that I read this book as well, voluntarily. Very interesting material.
Fascinating. Goodall is brilliant, of course, and an inspiration. Loved reading the in-depth stories of the chimps and the big lessons to be learned from them.
I've been watching Escape to Chimp Eden on Animal Planet and think chimpanzees are so interesting! I wanted to read about them because they are so human like, have unique personalities, and a social hierarchy. I liked the book and now know everything I ever wanted to know about chimpanzees and much more. The topic that was most interesting was the mother child relationship and how the quality of that relationship affected the chimpanzees for the rest of their life.
What an interesting read. As I kept reading I found myself thinking what else could there be to know about chimpanzees? Each chapter brought new and intriguing information. I am glad to have read this book.
This is extremely entertaining non-fiction! It makes me think of people as chimps when I see mothers toting around their kids or guys trying to impress people with their big muscles. The description of cannibalism is horrific. Reading this makes me want to watch more nature shows on the Discovery Channel.
May 21, 2012
jobiwan6
is currently reading it
this woman is one of my heroes - i can't believe this is the first time i've read any of her books. so far, i am amazed at the beauty of her prose.
Not a new book, but one I have intended to read and found on a shelf of free books! I liked it. ( About her studies of chimpanzees in Gombe.)
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Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE (born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall), is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute an...more
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