Almost Human
by Shirley C. Strum
On This Page
Description
In 1972, a young graduate student named Shirley Strum traveled to Kenya to study a troop of olive baboons (Papio anubis) nicknamed the Pumphouse Gang. Like our own ancestors, baboons had adapted to life on the African savannah, and Strum hoped that by observing baboon behavior, she could learn something about how early humans might have lived. Soon the baboons had won her heart as well as her mind, and Strum has been working with them ever since. Vividly written and filled with fascinating show more insights, Almost Human chronicles the first fifteen years of Strum's fieldwork with the Pumphouse Gang. From the first paragraph, the reader is drawn along with Strum into the world of the baboons, learning about the tragedies and triumphs of their daily lives--and the lives of the scientists studying them. This edition includes a new introduction and epilogue that place Strum's research in the context of the current global conservation crisis and tell us what has happened to the Pumphouse Gang since the book was first published. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
the writing is clear but meanders without much purpose. this is a very long diary entry without much force either in the personal biography department or in the area of scientific observation and fascination.
the author did her best to write an entertaining science book but she goes on tangents and long digressions about brushing her teeth and what color khaki shorts she’s wearing. she ends up not making it interesting, she ends up making it unfocused and directionless.
this was obviously a huge part of her life and very meaningful for her. it seems like a fascinating journey to have taken and something i wish i could enjoy taking, too, through the book. the writing is just not there for me. the story just isn’t compelling for me. the show more work she did was important (IMO) but i was hoping to expand my knowledge of primatology into the baboon world since i know very little about them. it doesn’t look like that is going to happen since i am probably going to abandon this book for juicier reads. show less
the author did her best to write an entertaining science book but she goes on tangents and long digressions about brushing her teeth and what color khaki shorts she’s wearing. she ends up not making it interesting, she ends up making it unfocused and directionless.
this was obviously a huge part of her life and very meaningful for her. it seems like a fascinating journey to have taken and something i wish i could enjoy taking, too, through the book. the writing is just not there for me. the story just isn’t compelling for me. the show more work she did was important (IMO) but i was hoping to expand my knowledge of primatology into the baboon world since i know very little about them. it doesn’t look like that is going to happen since i am probably going to abandon this book for juicier reads. show less
An anthropologist’s story of her baboon research, what she learned about baboon society, and how her group found a new home for the baboon colony. Fascinating stuff.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
8+ Works 140 Members
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Almost Human
- Original title
- Almost Human - A Journey Into The World of Baboons
- Original publication date
- 1987
- Epigraph
- The Bushman ... indicated that to tell [the story] properly one should use the language of the baboons; however, he added respectfully, "I must speak in my own language because I feel that the speech of baboons is not easy."<... (show all)br>~ Laurens Van Der Post, The Heart of the Hunter
I confess freely to you, I could never look upon a monkey without very mortifying reflections
~William Congreve in a letter to Jean Baptiste Denis (1695) - Dedication
- To Jonah, Laura and the baboons
- First words
- I was hunched uncomfortably into the corner of a VW van, bumping along a rutted road chaotic with ancient care and donkey carts.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Now, if they wanted to, it would be possible for my children to watch the Pumphouse Gang too.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 114
- Popularity
- 285,646
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.63)
- Languages
- English, Finnish, Italian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 2
