The Orang Utan: Its Biology and Conservation (Perspectives in Vertebrate Science)

Book Description

In The Octopus and the Orangutan, Eugene Linden takes readers on another unforgettable journey into the minds and hearts of animals.

The Parrot's Lament, his acclaimed previous book, featured extraordinary true stories of animal consciousness and intelligence. Linden's latest book goes beyond our everyday encounters with animals at home and in the zoo in a wide-ranging collection of real-life anecdotes that offer further compelling evidence of their higher mental capabilities and their awareness of the needs and feelings of others.

The Octopus and the Orangutan reveals extraordinary new details about animals introduced in The Parrot's Lament, and then finds intelligent behavior in surprising new places, ranging from the octopus's garden to the crow's nest. Amazing feats of stealth, deception, and larceny accompany unexpected acts of kindness and friendship. Animals show they are cagey bargainers and tough negotiators both with their human keepers and with one another. The animals themselves are our guides in this fresh look at the question of animal intelligence.

From the beloved pets we think we know to the remarkable survival skills of creatures in the wild, Eugene Linden once again shares his wonder and joy at the infinite variety of animal behavior that continues to inform, amaze, and touch us all.

Customer Reviews:

Who'd a thunk it!.......2006-11-14

Our local newspaper carried a story about octopi and their intelligence and referenced this book. The story intrigued me because I'd never read anywhere that creatures like octopi had much intelligence. Of course, I had to buy the book! And what a book it is! Well written, funny, and very enjoyable, it's also very easy to understand. I particularly like the way it shows that octopi not only display intelligence but a sense of humor as well. Orangutans, of course, are well-known for their intelligence; but I'd never dreamed just how smart these animals really are. If only I could get over their creepy looks...

Animal Intelligence.......2006-02-15

People who enjoy thinking about evolution, artificial and natural intelligence, and consciousness will want to read this book. It is a quick read worth the price.

Intriguing animal tales.......2005-01-08

What an entertaining and interesting read. I totally adored his "The Parrot's Lament" and was really excited to learn he had a new book. Eugene Linden presents some well studied proposals, with lots of information, in a clear format, and he is always careful to point out where the "scientific community" currently stands on each issue discussed. The dialogue surrounding animal intelligence is an intriguing one, and it's nice to see things from a non-scientist position...it is still well-informed, but he feels more free to use anecdotes. Still, each anecdote is presented on its own, not as supporting data, but as themselves...interesting moments that perhaps offer a glimpse not seen in many science journals. Plus, Orangutans are totally awesome.

comprehensive, entertaining, intriguing.......2004-11-09

it doesn't matter that linden's discussion on animal behaviour isn't rocket science, as behavioural studies often seem to be thought.

the beauty about linden's writings is that they come from a prespective innate in every humanbeing - simple/fundamental, unending questioning. his questions and case studies can be appreciated in simplicity. which leads to the question then, of why humans have made the study and evaluation of animal behaviour and intelligence so complicated, tenuous and subjective. does it matter if intelligence is ingrained in instinct or conjured through an anylytical mind?

"The universe is simple at its foundation."

And i believe that's where linden is with his book. throughly entertaining and easy to read, this book can be appreciated by any age and any background. any "thicker" and it'd be a scientific reference book that'd bore or overwhelm most audiences.

Several of his stories are briefs of pending behavioural/intelligence studies in universities, which is interesting to the general public because most of the results of such studies only ever turn up in scientific journals full or jargon and mathematical symbols. he also includes letters of intrigue from readers of his first book The Parrots Lament.

Read this book if you're looking to be intrigued and quirked.

Transends True Tales.......2004-08-10

I grabbed this book looking for a light, entertaining read based on the cute cover and the phrase "true tales." And it was. However, I was delighted to discover the author transcends cute-animal-story mode to craft a lively discussion for rethinking how we judge intelligence. Of particular delight, to me, was the author's obvious joyful and touching regard for animals, while at the same time maintaining judicious restraint in validating stories and their meanings. This book reminds me of Thai food: A complex dance of flavors that somehow fuse into a satisfying meal. Savor.

Our Vanishing Relative: The Status of Wild Orangutans at the Close of the Twentieth Century

Average customer rating:

Excellent !!!

Our Vanishing Relative: The Status of Wild Orangutans at the Close of the Twentieth Century
H.D. Rijksen , and E. Meijaard
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 079235754X

Book Description

In the 1960s, it was believed that no more than about 4,000 orang-utans remained in the wild. Consequently, IUCN - The World Conservation Union - declared the ape an endangered species, demanding its world-wide protection. Nevertheless, the orang-utan today faces extinction because it is dependent on a rain-forest habitat that is rapidly being demolished due to human greed, and a growing human population.
Rijksen was among the first to make a detailed study of the ape in the wild, emerging as an authority on orang-utan conservation. In the late 1980s he became so alarmed by local rumours of the rapid decline of wild orang-utans that he initiated the study leading to this book. Meijaard conducted the ambitious, island-spanning surveys in Borneo and Sumatra to reveal the ape's whereabouts.
This is the story of their findings. It is the first comprehensive study of the ape's distribution and status based on a wealth of first-hand field data, and a frank, disturbing account of a mixture of good intentions, ignorance and greed, spelling doom for our Asian relative.
Nevertheless, the authors emphasise that the orang-utan can survive. A realistic plan to save the ape, and with it thousands of unique wild animals and plants, does exist. It is the authors' hope that Our Vanishing Relative, so urgent and eloquent in its description of the deadly net of problems descending over our helpless relative, will awaken attention and empathy in order to safeguard the future of the orang-utan.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent !!!.......2003-05-17

Seeing its forbidding price here I realize how lucky I was to pick up an Indonesian edition for just a few dollars...
An extremely throughly written book dealing with all imaginable aspects of orangutan conservation, pulling no punches when pointing out mistakes made by conservationists so far.
I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone seriously interested in the survival of these apes.
If you have already read more popular books like Birute Galdikas' "Reflections of Eden" or Linda Spalding's "A Dark Place in the Jungle" and are left wishing for more balanced, serious information you could find nothing better than this one.
Pity for the price!

Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo

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Through another pair of eyes and ears
Reflections of Eden
Wonderful reading
Birute's personal account of two decades at Tanjung Puting
Leakey's third "angel"

Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo
Birute M. F. Galdikas
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316301868

Book Description

Ever since Jane Goodall unlocked the mysteries of wild chimpanzees, and Dian Fossey lived among mountain gorillas, the world has been captivated by primates and the people who study them. Here, at last, is the riveting story of Birute Galdikas, a pioneering primatologist who has spent much of her life studying orangutans. In 1971, twenty-five-year-old Galdikas began living in the remote jungles of Indonesian Borneo, where she encountered menacing poachers, blood-sucking leeches, and swarms of carnivorous insects. Determined to penetrate the world of the elusive "red ape" in the name of science and conservation, Galdikas embarked on a quest of more than twenty years to become the foremost chronicler of orangutan life.Her first task was to forge a bond of trust with the animals, but her initial forays into their world were thwarted by skeptical and territorial orangutans like handsome Cara, who hurled dead branches at Galdikas from the tree canopy above. Eventually, Galdikas became a surrogate member of the community, triumphantly claimed as "mother" by little Sugito, who clung to her fiercely, night and day, for months. Reflections of Eden is an exotic adventure, a history of vital scientific research, and the memoir of a remarkable woman.

Customer Reviews:

Through another pair of eyes and ears.......2007-05-25

The next best thing to living in an Indonesian rain forest with these creatures is reading this account. The animals are of course, her main focus but the daily life and the reality of bringing a child into this forest are all examined and told with the same voice. The rain forest, sights, sounds and smells come to life through her vivid descriptions. I have reread this book along with all of Goodall's and the Fossey books and this is a necessary addition to the knowledge of great apes.

Reflections of Eden.......2005-10-13

If you are inspired by dedicated peoplewith vision and or conservation this is a must read. Professor Galdikas is an amazing woman and is part of the Leakey sisterhood ie Fossey, Goodall and Galdikas, who have made life time studies of apes.

Wonderful reading.......2003-09-03

Wonderful book! Galdikas brings us from her very beginnings as a young woman studing Orangutans to a true scientist breaking new ground as Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey did. The information and descriptions she passes along to the readers is endearing, educational, and brings you to another world. Read this yourself, you will be enchanted, you will cry, you will be happy you experienced this book. Thank you Birute!

Birute's personal account of two decades at Tanjung Puting.......2003-07-13

Having spent time volunteering at Tanjung Puting, I felt this book was wonderfully written. Although The Professor (Birute) is not an open person, she willingly shared her personal feelings in this book. She tells us in a wonderful fashion about the difficulties of establishing Camp Leakey in Kalimantan. She discloses much about marriage and divorce from Rod, and raising Binti. Her account of Rod's efforts during 7 1/2 years at Tanjung Puting are wonderful in that she credited him with so much. I appreciate her assimilation into Indonesian and Dayak culture. At first glance it may be difficult for us to understand how she could marry Pak Bohap, a native Dayak who even admits to having eaten orangutans. But her writing about this relationship is so understandable. Overall, this is a wonderful book by a woman entirely devoted to the conservation of one of the world's great apes. The story of her life in Borneo is fascinating. A great read about one of Louis Leakey's proteges!

Leakey's third "angel".......2002-05-07

The other two "angels" on their mission of Great Ape rescue were of course Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey who studied respectively Chimpanzee's and Mountain Gorillas.(Fossey we know died for her cause). Birute Galdikas started later than the others (1971) and her Great Ape - Orangutans - were also less known and in some respects, less regarded than the others.

Does Galdikas' work in Borneo and her story in REFLECTIONS OF EDEN remedy this oversight? Only somewhat as this book is as much an autobiography as it is a natural history of the "men of the forest". Galdikas' affection for her mentor Louis Leakey is obvious as is her fondness for her fellow primatologists. "Dian, Jane Goodall, and I were family. Louis Leakey had recognized us as kindred souls and become our spiritual father." This connectedness she felt extended to the mystical. When Fossey was murdered in Rwanda in 1985 Galdikas tells us "even before I learned of her death, I knew Dian would be killed, I knew this was her destiny."

Book Description

We've all heard that chimpanzees are our closest relatives - that, in fact, they share 98% of their genes with us. But what evidence supports these often-repeated commonplaces? Very little, concludes physical anthropologist Jeffrey Schwartz. In his keenly insightful demolition of conventional wisdom on the family relationships between apes and humans, Schwartz provides a fresh examination of fossil evidence, modern anatomy and physiology, and DNA. He argues that it is not chimpanzees or other African apes that are humankind's closest cousins, but Asian orangutans. The result is a compelling challenge to what we think we know about the origins of humans, and about the pursuit of science. In this thoroughly revised edition of The Red Ape, Schwartz analyzes the myriad fossil discoveries made since the publication of the first edition. He reveals the embarrassing fact that orangutan and human teeth are so similar that they have commonly been misidentified for each other in the fossil record, even by experts. New material provocatively addresses whether molecules (DNA) are more reliable than fossils and anatomy in assessing evolutionary relationships. Numerous new plates and drawings illustrate the text.

Customer Reviews:

Update to a earlier edition.......2007-09-04

I read the earlier edition of this book, and have now read the update. The author's premise is that morphology (anatomical similarity) links people and orangutans, despite genetic and molecular studies that say that chimps (and, more specifically, bonobos) are our closest relatives. What to make of this? The most likely answer is that we are most closely related to bonobos and chimps, but Schwartz's arguments cannot be dismissed without consideration. The morphology is certainly relevant, and the question is how it competes with the molecular evidence.

To argue Schwartz' point from a slightly different perspective, all genetic and molecular measures of relatedness are really tests of hypotheses against data. When you test hypotheses against data it is possible that none, one, or more than one hypothesis is consistent with the data. This is often lost in a claim that one hypothesis is the best match to the data. The best match needn't be the only hypothesis consistent with the data, and the difference between the best and the second (or third, or ...) best match need not be statistically significant. Further, the result can depend on the assumptions made.

Suppose, for example, that a rigorous, molecular, test of relatedness between creatures says there is a 50% chance that critter a is the closest relative, a 30% chance that critter b is, a 15% chance that critter c is, and a 5% chance that some other critter is. The best bet would be on critter a, but there would only be even odds that that was the correct answer. If other evidence not considered in the statistics supported critter b, that should be a serious consideration.

Schwartz objects that the approach taken in most studies is tainted because the molecular comparisons tend to assume that the orang is a more distant relative, and set up the molecular tests based on that assumption. He argues that molecular tests should be done with an assumption of an old world monkey as a known ancestor, and all ape/human relationships uncertain. To do otherwise biases the results against a orang-human link.

A molecular survey done with a wider range of options, and a morphological overlay on that, might result in an answer different than the accepted story. The odds are currently against it, but the theory deserves fair consideration. Schwartz's argument is not trivial or silly. It is a serious argument of the sort that forces science to answer the right, hard questions before accepting a particular theory as likely to be true. The most likely result is vindication of the prevailing (chimp-human) theory. But there is still the possibility of an upset!

And that's why I'm a scientist ...

Great fun - and what if he's right?.......2006-06-17

This is a tremendously thrilling, rewarding book to read. This book will make you think.

We are told that chimpanzees are our closest relatives. We are not usually shown how the software that 'keeps confirming' this conclusion sometimes generates alternative trees that split the great apes in three: the chimps, the gorillas, and then a particularly bright and flexible clade that split into humans and orangutans. These alternate interpretations are 'obviously wrong', so the researcher finds the 'wrong assumptions' that can be changed to make it come out right, with chimps and humans side by side.

But when you look at the morphology, feature by feature humans and orangs either share some aspect that chimps and gorillas don't, or we're both the 'most derived' members of the great apes. Fossil hominid teeth and skulls and fossil orang teeth and skulls are similar enough that many fossils now labeled as fossil orang were once labeled as fossil hominid.

Humans and orangs are the only great apes that grow long body hair, albeit in different places.

Gorillas and chimpanzees are obligate knuckle walkers. That means that they have a system of tendons and bone shapes that snaps the heavily callused knuckle to the ground when they walk on all fours (as they usually do). Gorillas and chimpanzees are born with knuckles predisposed to callus.

Humans and orangutans show no trace of this complex adaptation. We are not born with incipient calluses, we do not have tendons that snap our hands into a fist when we stretch.

Schwartz argues that if we weren't talking about human relatives, any trained morphologist would say it's us and orangs over here, and knuckle walkers over there.

Average customer rating:

Absolutely a pleasure to read
Imaginative and Delightful
Absolutely unique
A supremely clever little mystery
Delightful novel!

Borges and the Eternal Orangutans
Luis Fernando Verissimo , and Margaret Jull Costa
Manufacturer: New Directions Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 081121592X

Book Description

Jorge Luis Borges is the hero of this literary whodunit by one of Brazil's most celebrated writers.

Vogelstein is a loner who has always lived among books. Suddenly, fate grabs hold of his insignificant life and carries him off to Buenos Aires, to a conference on Edgar Allan Poe, the inventor of the modern detective story. There Vogelstein meets his idol, Jorge Luis Borges, and for reasons that a mere passion for literature cannot explain, he finds himself at the center of a murder investigation that involves arcane demons, the mysteries of the Kaballah, the possible destruction of the world, and the Elizabethan magus John Dee's theory of the "Eternal Orangutan," which, given all the time in the world, would end up writing all the known books in the cosmos. Verissimo's small masterpiece is at once a literary tour de force and a brilliant mystery novel.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely a pleasure to read.......2006-03-13

This is a very witty short novel about a Brazilian translator of detective fiction who loves the work of Borges. The man, Vogelstein (his family escaped the nazis and immigrated to Brazil when he was a small child -- only his mother remained in Europe and thus died), is given the opportunity to meet Borges since an international meeting of Poe experts is scheduled to be held in Buenos Aires. When an offensive, mean spirited German is murdered at the meeting (in a classic locked room case), Borges and Vogelstein join intellectual forces to solve the mystery. Secret meaning is ascribed to everything possible; is the necronomicon involved???; were Poe and Lovecraft onto something?? Even though I must say that I basically figured out the crime before it even happened, I laughed and enjoyed my way through this book. I assume the original is probably even better than the translation. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys literary references, hidden codes, and perfect revenge.

Imaginative and Delightful.......2006-02-25

A short delightful read! Very interesting narration, imaginative story-telling and replete with various literary references - this was a short and delightful read! The book is a celebration of the writing legacy of Edgar Allan Poe & Borges in a sense and although at its core, the story is a whodunit, it goes beyond the scope of a typical murder mystery with its various (often obscure to me!) literary and philosophical ruminations. Its short enough to complete in 1 sitting though I probably ruined it by reading it over 4-5 sittings!

Absolutely unique.......2006-02-25

It is hard to try an capture in a few pages any portion of Borges' personality, but Verissimo manages to do just that, and in what way! The book starts simply enough, with the possibility of attending an Edgar Allan Poe conference and maybe seeing his ultimate idol; Jorge Luis Borges, the blind Argentinean writer/mythologist supremo.

The book ends up as a supposed murder mystery; an academic, vociferous and virulent in his views, is found dead in his room, and those who most likely would like to kill him had rooms in the same floor.

What happens then is a glorious use of Borges' own 'symbolism' paired with details from Poe's writing and a 17th century alchemist. The plot moves quickly, every step diving more and more into the ambiguity of interpretation of the fact that the doors to the murder room were found locked from the inside.

Verissimo is obviously quite comfortable not only with Poe, but with Borges' work and personality. The whole story appears almost as a schroeder's cat version of Borges' work.

A great read, not for those used to light stories, this requires thinking, and a love for a touch of the absurd at times.

Overall, a great book, good read at any time

A supremely clever little mystery.......2006-01-31

Luis Fernando Verissimo's Borges and the Eternal Orangutans takes the form of a novella addressed to the author Jorge Luis Borges. In it, the narrator/author, a certain Vogelstein, recounts for Borges the story of his experiences in Buenos Aires at a conference of Edgar Allan Poe specialists, an event that had ended prematurely because of the murder of one of the scholars in attendance. Vogelstein had been the one to find Joachim Rotkopf, a spiteful, "eminently knifeable man," stabbed to death in his room. Borges is aware already of much of Vogelstein's story, as he and the narrator discussed the locked room mystery of Rotkopf's death--and the arcane clues the victim left behind pointing to the identity of his killer--immediately after the event. They had attempted to solve the crime by purely intellectual means in a series of conversations that ranged from Edgar Allan Poe's oeuvre to the mystical power of letters to the literary monkeys of this book's title.

Verissimo's supremely clever little mystery will be appreciated by Borges and Poe aficionados--familiarity with both authors would be a plus--and to readers who like their fiction thoughtful and their expectations upended. Kudos to anyone who can figure out whodunit before the book's final chapter.

Debra Hamel -- author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in ancient Greece (Yale University Press, 2003)

Delightful novel!.......2005-09-13

I picked this book up out of pure curiosity, and was richly rewarded. Others here have nicey summarized the novel, so this will be more of an endorsement than a review.

Though I am very familiar with Poe, I have never read any Borges. My unfamiliarity with Borges was no impediment to a thoroughly pleasureable read. It was clever, well-paced, witty and accessible even as it moved into subject matter to which I had no prior exposure. I adored it. In fact, as soon I finished, I was torn between immediately reading it again, going back to Poe, and diving into Borges!

Among Orangutans: Red Apes and the Rise of Human Culture

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Orangutans are gregarious when they can be
Out of isolation
A wonderful story
Bravo to a great researcher

Among Orangutans: Red Apes and the Rise of Human Culture
Carel van Schaik
Manufacturer: Belknap Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0674015770

Book Description

The local people know him as the "Man of the Forest," who refused to speak for fear of being put to work. And indeed the bear-like Sumatran orangutan, with his moon face, lanky arms, and shaggy red hair, does seem uncannily human; one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, the orangutan may have much to tell us about the origins of human intelligence, technology, and culture. In this book one of the world's leading experts on Sumatran orangutans, working in collaboration with nature photographer Perry van Duijnhoven, takes us deep into the disappearing world of these captivating primates.

In a narrative that is part adventure, part field journal, part call to conscience, Carel van Schaik introduces us to the colorful characters and complex lives of the orangutans who inhabit the vanishing forests of Sumatra. In compelling words and pictures, we come to know the personalities and temperaments of our primate cousins as they go about their days: building double-decker tree nests; using leaves as napkins, gloves, rain hats, and blankets, and sticks as backscratchers and probes; nurturing their infants longer and more intensely than any other nonhuman mammal. Here are the births and deaths, the first use of a tool, the defeat of a rival, the gradual loss of influence that, while fascinating to observe, may also help us to reconstruct human evolution.

Customer Reviews:

Orangutans are gregarious when they can be.......2006-06-17

The orangutan has been seen as a loner, wandering a forest that offers just enough food to pay the cost of collecting it. But this may be because homo sapiens have liked to farm where orangutans could afford to congregate. Schaik found a swamp where orangutans still congregated.

Just by itself, this book will tell you things about orangutans - the 'other' surviving not-humans - that no one knew until very recently. If you read this before or after reading "The Red Ape: Orangutans and Human Origins" by Jeffrey H. Schwartz (which points out that morphologically, humans and are orangs are very close, and the genetic evidence is not really as solid and cross-referenced as you might have thought) you might find yourself immune to all arguments by analogy with chimp behavior for quite some time.

Out of isolation.......2006-04-12

About 14 million years ago, an African ape with a penchant for solitude strolled eastwards. Her descendents became the "red apes" of Borneo and Sumatra - the orang utan. Unlike their African cousins, orang utans don't regularly form troops or "gangs". As isolated forest wanderers, they are immensely difficult to study, especially compared to mountain gorillas or chimpanzees. Their isolation has led to more myths than facts about them - until Carel Van Schaik began reporting his findings. This book summarises his work in a stunning presentation of narrative and images. More importantly, it overturns many false ideas of how orang utans fit in the primate lineage. Our lineage.

Spending seven years in a swampy jungle brought van Schaik into intimate contact with orang utans. He discovered novel behaviour and unexpected talents. Among the most surprising revelations was the use of tools. Orang utans are at least as adept as gorillas with tools. There is clear planning in the selection and application of tools. Twigs as tools are made "oversize" before actual use, trimmed to the proper dimension before applying them. There are several fruits requiring special tools for seed retrieval, and photographs show a variety of shapes and lengths. Unlike chimps, however, orang utan tools are manipulated ["lipulated?"] with the mouth more than the hands. Van Schaik and his photographer, Perry van Duijnhoven, depict the tools and their owners with superb images.

With fewer predators to cope with [outside of humans, of course], the Red Ape has followed a different path from its African cousin. Gorillas, too, live on fruits and leaves, but remain ground dwellers. Chimpanzees run in organised troops, while the orang utan's social structure is more flexible. Orang utan young remain with the parents for years, providing many opportunities for parental training. The culture of orang utans must be learned anew with each generation, van Schaik stresses. The intelligence is there to absorb the education, and the habits aren't ingrained. Nest making is symptomatic, with the young building their construction skills over time. Early nests are ramshackle, and during inclement weather, a young ape may shift from his own nest to her mother's for better shelter. Nor is all this behaviour universal. Van Schaik notes the variations among populations he observed.

"Culture", of course, is a term humans wish to retain for their sole use. Van Schaik devotes a chapter to demolishing that restrictive view. He also expands the role of "symbolism", another shibboleth of cultural anthropology. We've restricted the application of "symbolism" to exclude other primates. The structure of orang utan society, he says, demonstrates how symbols are used for identification and communication. This isn't limited to physical artefacts, but may be found in vocalisations and other manifestations of individuality. He explains how training the young imparts cultural and social norms, something humans have limited to their own realm. The five great ape species exhibit vast differences in many aspects, but, van Schaik argues, that only demonstrates that ape intelligence has been utilised appropriately for each species. The intelligence was already there. It was adapted to provide the necessary behaviour for its environment. Ours was adapted most extensively. One aspect of that adaptation is that our species is threatening the existence of the other four. In particular, the Red Apes of Indonesia are being subjected to severe threat. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A wonderful story.......2006-03-26

This book flows quite beautifully, from the general biology of orangutans and their habitat to theories about the development of their culture. Van Schiak does not try to anthropomorphize the apes, but instead takes a reasoned view of their lives and shows that they do in fact have certain varying traditions and methods of tool use. Through it all, van Schiak explains his methodology and reasoning quite clearly.

It really is truly amazing how similar we are to the apes. Even one difference van Schiak points out, the presence of infanticide in Orangutan groups, bears an uncanny resemblance to our own Shakespearean past (Hamlet, for one). Yet, at the end, van Schiak is sure to point out those traits which are uniquely human.

A great read for ape-lovers or culture behaviorists.

Bravo to a great researcher.......2005-11-18

I have always been interested in the rather rarified air of evolution theory, not because I don't believe it, but it ironically demands a leap of faith because there are so many gaps in getting humans from having ancestors who crawled out of the ooze many millions of years ago to putting a man on the moon. van Schaik has invested an amazing amount of time in looking at our ape cousins, in conditions that would make most people just give up and go home to watch chimps and other apes in the comfort of their offices instead of slogging through armpit deep swamps for hours day after day to observe our cousins in their natural habitats.
van Schaik is owed a great amount of gratitude for his extraordinary contributions to making observations in unbelievable conditions and drawing some real observations about orangutan behavior and its possible parallels with human development.
Unlike some primatologists such as DeWaal, he actually has observations and conclusions that connect some dots in a logical way instead of silly extrapolations into political conclusions that are so superficial as to be laughable.
My hat goes off to a great contributor to real research and advancing our knowledge of our fellow apes.
This is really a great book.

Among the Orangutans: The Birute Galdikas Story (The Great Naturalists)

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Among the Orangutans: The Birute Galdikas Story (The Great Naturalists)
Evelyn Gallardo
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Biology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0811804089

Book Description

A student of the renowned paleontologist Dr. Louis B. Leakey and a colleague of both Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, Birute Galdikas is the world's foremost authority on the life and behavior of the orangutan. For more than twenty years she has lived in the jungles of Borneo, devoting her life to studying and preserving this endangered animal as well as its disappearing rain forest habitat. The informative text describes both the obstacles and adventures of Dr. Galdikas's explorations as well as her startling discoveries, and the full-color photographs brilliantly capture her life among the orangutans. Birute Galdikas is an impressive role model, and her inspiring story serves as a reminder that the future of our fragile world, as well as our understanding of it, lies in the dreams and determination of today's young naturalists.

Awards and honors for Among the Orangutans:
John Burrough's Nature Book Award
Nueva Award
Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Average customer rating:

Cryptozoology: Science & Speculation
Outstanding. A Must Read.
Well Done!
Arment publishes a truly classic cryptozoological tome.
Thorough with surprise sidetrips

Cryptozoology: Science & Speculation
Chad Arment
Manufacturer: Coachwhip Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1930585152

Customer Reviews:

Cryptozoology: Science & Speculation.......2005-10-01

Very professional; highly intellectual and scientifically sound writing. An excellent text for any scientific library collection.

Outstanding. A Must Read. .......2005-02-12

This book sits squarely between Loren Coleman and William R. Corliss on my bookshelf. Crypto and anomalous readers will be impressed with this book and should not hesitate to buy it. The effort Chad put into authoring this book will quickly become apparent. The documentation is flawless. You will find new material covering Snakes, Cats, Hominids and Birds. I found the chapter on "Boss Snakes" fascinating! And if you are a fan of Loren Coleman's lists in many of his books, the appendices and bibliography in Cryptozoology, Science and Speculation will not disappoint! Also, be sure to check out Chad's website http://www.strangeark.com/ , where there is seemingly endless reading material.

Well Done!.......2004-12-29

Chad breaks down Cryptozoology into the nuts and bolts of science.
All new Bigfoot hunters, (and quite a few present ones) should read this book. It breaks through the barriers of BS and folklore, and explains the scientific method in great detail!
Books like this one will propel Cryptozoology into the mainstream!

Arment publishes a truly classic cryptozoological tome........2004-03-31

Rarely has there been a more critical yet constructive look at cryptozoology, its definition, methodology and direction. Chad Arment has written a most intelligent and noteworthy tome which honestly faces some of the dilemmas that plague cryptozoology and finds means to honestly correct and address them. Comprising two parts, science and speculation, the first part is immensely enlightening.

This book contains sections on building scientific and logical foundations for investigative methodologies, underlays this foundation with an ethnozoological starting point and then discusses the rationale, methodology, feasibility and credibility of cryptozoology.

It is remarkably scientific and yet at the same time eminently readable. Arment's logical and intelligent viewpoints are intellectually stimulating.

The second party focuses on speculation, but what speculation this is. He reviews the prospects for animals as diverse as Long-tailed bobcats, the Pennsylvania "gorilla" and the West Virginia Roc.

Also included is Ivan T. Sanderson's treatise on Suggestions for the Obtaining of Larger Zoological Specimens for Scientific Study.

I thoroughly recommend Cryptozoology: Science & Speculation as an indispensible part of every cryptozoological and orthodox zoological enthusiast's library and as a most valuable reference source.

The writer of this review is the President and Editor of the British Columbia Scientific Crytozoology Club and its Quarterly.

Thorough with surprise sidetrips.......2004-03-05

Chad Arment's work is a worthy addition to the growing cryptozoological library. He looks at methodology, with a skeptical and openminded eye, and then devotes the last half of the book in sharing his discoveries of old archival material on a variety of lesser known cryptids and related questions.

Recommended, especially for the cryptozoological intellectual.

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