Exploring the Mind of the Chimpanzee
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Exploring the Mind of the Chimpanzee
Date: Sep 2, 2010
Author: Steve RossIf you have spent any length of time around a chimpanzee, you become keenly aware of the high level of intelligence that these individuals possess. So it’s not surprising that the study of chimpanzee intelligence, or cognition, is a hot field of science right now. A new book entitled The Mind of the Chimpanzee: Experimental and Ecological Perspectives (edited by Elizabeth Lonsdorf, Steve Ross and Tetsuro Matsuzawa) brings together the world’s foremost experts in chimpanzee studies to discuss the intricacies of chimpanzee minds and what we might learn about that species and our own.
The Mind of the Chimpanzee emerged from a conference of the same name held at Lincoln Park Zoo in March 2007. But the lineage of the volume extends much longer. The 2007 conference was the third in a series of scientific meetings that began in 1986 when Jane Goodall and Paul Heltne decided to organize a conference to bring together field biologists studying at a wide variety of chimpanzee sites across Africa. The conference was very successful and was largely responsible for the growth of inter-community studies that we see today. A synthesis of these research topics were published in a book entitled Understanding Chimpanzees in 1989. Five years later, a second conference was held in Chicago and the subsequent book, Chimpanzee Cultures is now the seminal publication for the study of behavioral transmission among great apes.
With this new book comes renewed interest in figuring out exactly what is going on inside the brain of our closest living relatives. Through examination of their tool-use innovation, communication, cooperative abilities and culture, a host of fascinating scientific issues are explored. But this book, grounded firmly in the latest academic research has a welcome and perhaps unexpected angle to explore. By learning about how chimpanzees think, we can also gain insight into how best to conserve this species in their natural habitat and how to best care for them in captive settings. It’s this applied use of basic scientific information, that provides a unique commentary on the important issues facing chimpanzees around the world and the role that science can have in addressing them.
The Mind of the Chimpanzee is available in all major bookstores, online and at Lincoln Park Zoo today.
Comments
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Eva Hoedeman says...
I have seen a lot of films, videos, have read articles on the inteligence of Chimpanzees and other great apes, and how similar they are to us. What I am really missing is that I have no opportunity to actually meet a Chimpanzee, touch one or hug one. Being a painter and having created a few paintings of Chimpanzees, I really have the need to do so. I wonder if anybody can help me with this, I live in Ontario, Canada, but would be willing to travel a bit, if I was given the apportunity.. My e-mail adress is:
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Eva Hoedeman says...
I have seen a lot of films, videos, have read articles on the inteligence of Chimpanzees and other great apes, and how similar they are to us. What I am really missing is that I have no opportunity to actually meet a Chimpanzee, touch one or hug one. Being a painter and having created a few paintings of Chimpanzees, I really have the need to do so. I wonder if anybody can help me with this, I live in Ontario, Canada, but would be willing to travel a bit, if I was given the apportunity.. My e-mail adress is:
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Eva Hoedeman says...
I have seen a lot of films, videos, have read articles on the inteligence of Chimpanzees and other great apes, and how similar they are to us. What I am really missing is that I have no opportunity to actually meet a Chimpanzee, touch one or hug one. Being a painter and having created a few paintings of Chimpanzees, I really have the need to do so. I wonder if anybody can help me with this, I live in Ontario, Canada, but would be willing to travel a bit, if I was given the apportunity.. My e-mail adress is:
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