Product DescriptionTHROUGH A WINDOW is the dramatic saga of thirty years in the life of a community, of birth and death, sex and love, power and war. It reads like a novel, but it is one of the most important scientific works ever published. The community is Gombe, on the shores of Lake Tangganyika, where the principal residents are chimpanzees and one extraordinary woman who is their student, protector, and historian. In her classic In the Shadow of Man, Jane Goodall wrote of her first ten years at Gombe. In Through a Window she brings the story up to the present, painting a much more complete and vivid portrait of our closest relative. We see the community split in two and a brutal war break out. We watch young Figan's relentless rise to power and old Mike's crushing defeat. We learn how one mother rears her children to succeed and another dooms them to failure. We witness horrifying murders, touching moments of affection, joyous births, and wrenching deaths. In short, we see every emotion known to humans stripped to its essence. In the mirror of chimpanzee life, we see ourselves reflected. Perhaps the best book ever written about animal behavior, Through a Window is also essential reading for anyone seeking a better grasp of human behavior.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Jane's seminal work is still relevant and great
Jane Goodall needs no introduction, she cares for nature, earth and all the creatures on it. Some critize her seemingly unorthodox methods and her supposed "cult of personality." However, reading this book made me fascinated by our closest living relatives and how they are really so similiar to ourselves. It made me remember that we too are animals, but we are intelligent and the dominaters of the earth. But with that role, we have to protect the voiceless. Both scientific and thoughtful, the narrative ... Read More
Rating: - A brash girl named Jane
To anyone old enough to remember the first field reports from a brash girl named Jane, who chose to live alone with a troop of chimps in Tanzania, way back in the 60s, it has to be a little boggling to realize that she has kept at it for 47 years (as of this writing). Oh, sure, we've seen the TV specials and the magazine stories, and some of us may have read her account of the first decade, IN THE SHADOW OF MAN. But, we do have our lives to attend to, and Goodall's ongoing work easily fades into the background ... Read More
Rating: - Amazing...!
Ever since reading Jane Goodall's book "Reason For Hope" (which is another highly-recommended one on my list), I have called her "Our Lady of Hope"; she truly has paved the way for a brighter future in her study of the animals and plants. And with her optimism and positive outlook, how could I not be floored by her work?
This book takes you on an emotional roller-coaster; tenderness (Flo's natural mothering instincts and her care for her children and her daughter, Fifi, imitating her mother), sadness ... Read More
Rating: - Surprisingly Entertaining
When I picked up this book it was because I randomly chose it from a pile of recommendations a friend gave me. I had no desire to read it, and the only reason I actually went through with it was that a) I would have to give the book back someday and b) she always recommends good-to-decent books. And despite the obvious reputation that Goodall has, I still had no desire to read it. Having recently picked up (and put down) Rachel Carson's The Edge of the Sea, I was in no mind to read another nature-based book. That ... Read More
Rating: - Thirty Years of Goodall Research in Gombe
Jane Goodall's contributions to our knowledge of chimpanzees has been remarkable. Because she first arrived in Africa completely untrained as an observer of animal behavior, she was able to bring a humanist's instincts to her work; her natural ability to see details and connections, as well as her affection for her subjects, culminated in published results that rocked the scientific community. THROUGH A WINDOW picks up her observations where IN THE SHADOW OF MAN left off. Here, she follows the lives mostly of the ... Read More
- A brash girl named Jane
