Smitten by Giraffe: My Life as a Citizen Scientist (Footprints Series Book 22)

Footprints #22

by Anne Innis Dagg

When Anne Innis saw her first giraffe at the age of three, she was smitten. She knew she had to learn more about this marvelous animal. Twenty years later, now a trained zoologist, she set off alone to Africa to study the behaviour of giraffe in the wild. Subsequently, Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey would be driven by a similar devotion to study the behaviour of wild apes. In Smitten by Giraffe, the noted feminist reflects on her scientific work as well as the leading role she has played in numerous activist campaigns.

On returning home to Canada, Anne married physicist Ian Dagg, had three children, published a number of scientific papers, taught at several local universities, and in 1967 earned her PhD in biology at the University of Waterloo. Dagg was continually frustrated in her efforts to secure a position as a regular professor despite her many publications and very good teaching record. Finally she opted instead to pursue her research as an independent "citizen scientist," while working part time as an academic advisor. Dagg would spend many years fighting against the marginalization of women in the arts and sciences.

Boldly documenting widespread sexism in Canadian universities while also discussing Dagg’s involvement with important zoological topics such as homosexuality, infanticide, sociobiology, and taxonomy, Smitten by Giraffe offers an inside perspective on the workings of scientific research and debate, the history of Canadian academia, and the rise of second-wave feminism.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Canadian Anne Innis Dagg has loved giraffes her whole life. She pioneered a study of their behaviour for a year in Africa in the 1950s, and has written many scientific papers and four books about them. Her ground-breaking early research and lifelong commitment to giraffe conservation make her one of the worlds leading giraffe experts and a true friend to giraffes everywhere. She lives in Waterloo, Ontario.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book isn’t so much a reflection upon a life well lived as a list of research projects undertaken. I don’t feel as though I got to know the author in any depth, and unless readers have a passion for zoology I can’t see this book appealing to the general public.

[Kate Stericker · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the whole, I found this book engaging and enjoyable. The sections on Dagg's work against homophobia, sexism, and researchers' mistreatment of animals were particularly interesting. Additionally, as a student at the University of Waterloo, it was fascinating to read Dagg's account of sexism at this institution and how Waterloo's attitudes towards women have improved (and, in some cases, remained stagnant) over time. My main complaint would be that Dagg sometimes goes into exacting detail about subjects such as the gaits of animals which, while interesting, is subject matter which I would expect to see discussed with that level of precision in a research paper rather than a memoir.

[Olgalijo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smitten by Giraffe is basically a memoir written by a scientist, and very much in the scientific writing style. It is also much less about giraffe than the title suggest, so if you're in it for the animal part, you can skip it. That said, the first person account of a female trying to become a scientist in the early 20th century is well worth the trip.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read about half. Wanted to like it, found it intriguing that a woman spent a good portion of her life studying giraffes, but she's SO DRY. It read like a full on textbook.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The autobiography of a feisty Canadian citizen scientist. A woman of wide-ranging interests, scientist and feminist Anne Innis Dagg pushed through discrimination and assumptions to pursue her own passions when her road to an academic career was blocked by prejudices that one hopes are less prevalent today. But with every chapter, as time marches on, progress for women is painfully (in all senses of the word) slow. What a relief to chapter 15, where her personal work is recognized and celebrated. One can only wish that everyone could have a chapter 15 in the course of their own lives. And I love giraffes.