Monkey see, monkey do--or does he$1170 Can the behavior of non-human primates--their sociality, their intelligence, their communication--really be chalked up to simple mimicry$1171 Emphatically, absolutely: no.
And as famed primatologist Julia Fischer reveals, the human bias inherent in this oft-uttered adage is our loss, for it is only through the study of our primate brethren that we may begin to understand ourselves.
An eye-opening blend of storytelling, memoir, and science, Monkeytalk takes us into the field and the world's primate labs to investigate the intricacies of primate social mores through the lens of communication.
After first detailing the social interactions of key species from her fieldwork--from baby-wielding male Barbary macaques, who use infants as social accessories in a variety of interactions, to aggression among the chacma baboons of southern Africa and male-male tolerance among the Guinea baboons of Senegal--Fischer explores the role of social living in the rise of primate intelligence and communication, ultimately asking what the ways in which other primates communicate can teach us about the evolution of human language.
Funny and fascinating, Fischer's tale roams from a dinner in the field shared with lionesses to insights gleaned from Rico, a border collie with an astonishing vocabulary, but its message is clear: it is humans who are the evolutionary mimics.
The primate heritage visible in our species is far more striking than the reverse, and it is the monkeys who deserve to be seen. "The social life of macaques and baboons is a magnificent opera," Fischer writes.
"Allow me now to raise the curtain on it.
Along with reproduction, balancing energy expenditure with the limits of resource acquisition is essential for both a species and a population...253,72 zł
In this classic of science history, Shapin takes into account the culture - the variety of beliefs, practices, and influences - that in the 1600s...98,16 zł
Martha Gellhorn was one of the first - and most widely read - female war correspondents of the twentieth century. She is best known for her fearless...71,04 zł
In "The Voice Imitator," translated by Kenneth Northcott, Bernhard gives us one of his most darkly comic works. A series of parable-like anecdotes...55,15 zł
No film critic has ever been as influential--or as beloved-- as Roger Ebert. Over more than four decades, he built a reputation writing reviews...138,85 zł
Beards--they're all the rage these days. Take a look around: from hip urbanites to rustic outdoorsmen, well-groomed metrosexuals to post-season...130,04 zł
Romulo Gallegos is best known for being Venezuela's first democratically elected president. But in his native land he is equally famous as a...75,49 zł
In 1957, the University of Chicago Press asked acclaimed best-selling historian Daniel J. Boorstin to oversee a series of accessible yet authoritative...98,46 zł
This penultimate volume in Pelikan's acclaimed history of Christian doctine - winner with Volume 3 of the medieval Academy's prestigious Haskins...101,91 zł
Whitehead's magnum opus is as important as it is difficult. It is the only work in which his metaphysical ideas are stated systematically and...216,27 zł
124,48 zł
McCawley supplements his earlier book--which covers such topics as presuppositional logic, the logic of mass terms and nonstandard quantifiers,...368,18 zł
Opinie i recenzje użytkowników
Dodaj opinie lub recenzję dla Monkeytalk. Twój komentarz zostanie wyświetlony po moderacji.