Tag Archives: primates

Becoming Wild

Posted on September 17, 2020 by smellincoffee

Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace© 2020 Carl Safina375 pages In Becoming Wild, ecologist Carl Safina recounts his time spent with field scientists studying cetaceans, macaws, and chimpanzees, to share insights and speculation about … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Of love languages, cunning critters, epic battles, and cows

Posted on January 27, 2020 by smellincoffee

Time for some mini-reviews! Read but not reviewed in the last week or so have been: The Heart of the 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? Frans de Waal Shiloh: A … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Demonic Males

Posted on January 22, 2016 by smellincoffee

Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence© 1996 Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham350 pages Why is the world run by violent men?  Demonic Males  argues that human males are by violent by nature,  a trait we share with … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

This week: war, war, war

Posted on July 28, 2014 by smellincoffee

This past week has been a quiet one, as I’ve been devotedly reading through Castles of Steel, an 800+ page history of the naval war between Britain and Germany during World War I.  I’m just starting Jutland, and after that … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This week at the library: Chimpanzees, El Niño, and simple living

Posted on March 13, 2014 by smellincoffee

This week at the library I’ve been working through a lull, having finished my last Stack o’ Books and having not yet gotten another one. My plans to fetch said stack were modified after I did a twelve-mile hike through … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When Elephants Weep

Posted on February 4, 2014 by smellincoffee

When Elephants Weep: the Emotional Lives of Animals© 1995 Jeffrey Masson and Susan McCarthy291 pages Humans pride themselves on not being  animals,  going so far as to describe any behavior we’re shamed of as ‘animal’.  Beasts have rude instincts; we … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Bonobo and the Atheist

Posted on January 22, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Bonobo and the Atheist: in Search of Humanism Among the Primates © 2013 Frans de Waal313 pages  Frans de Waal has written extensively on moral instincts within the great apes, in books like Good natured and Primates and Philosophers. In The … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chimpanzee Politics

Posted on May 2, 2013 by smellincoffee

Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes©  1983 Frans de Waal256 pages Back in the 1970s, primatologist Frans de Waal conducted one of the first extensive studies into the social structures of chimpanzees.  Chimpanzee Politics is the result,  establishing facts … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Beautiful Minds

Posted on October 5, 2009 by smellincoffee

Beautiful Minds: The Parallel Lives of Great Apes and Dolphins © 2008 Maddalena Bearzi, Craig B. Stanford 368 pages As this was a personal reccommendation from a friend, I opted to read it before continuuing in Saylor’s Roma sub Rosa … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Our Inner Ape

Posted on April 27, 2009 by smellincoffee

Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are the Way We Are© 2005 Frans De Waal288 pages I’ve been passing by this one for weeks now, and decided to give it a go this past weekend. It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment