I met Altmann at Hrdy’s walnut farm in northern California. The two primatologists are long-term conspirators, although, on the surface, quite different characters. Compared to her larger-than-life Texan host, Altmann, a no-nonsense New Yorker now in her eighties, is diminutive in stature, quiet and reserved. Her ideas have been no less radical, however. Her secret weapon has been an unswerving devotion to the geek god of impartial data. Yes, Altmann sparked a revolution through rigorous statistical analysis, which might not sound terribly sexy, but it was the only way to skew attention away
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