Why read A Primate's Memoir?

Book cover of A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons

Book description

In the tradition of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, Robert Sapolsky, a foremost science writer and recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant, tells the mesmerizing story of his twenty-one years in remote Kenya with a troop of Savannah baboons.

“I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I…

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Why read it?

4 authors picked A Primate's Memoir as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Anthony Ham

Author

Funny and wise in equal measure, A Primate’s Memoir is a window on baboon social dynamics with plenty of forays into the world of safari tourism that he observes from askance. Sapolsky has since gone on to become one of the science world’s keenest observers of human behaviour, and his portrayals of baboon and human interactions are priceless.

From Anthony's list on wild Africa.

Loretta Graziano Breuning

Author

This book tackles the subject from the perspective of the guy behind the binoculars watching animals in their natural habitat. It’s great reading, especially for me because I spent a year in Africa. Sapolsky is a noted neurobiologist, but this book blends the science with his “true life adventures.” The writer has a political agenda, however, which is increasingly manifest in his other books. Science-sounding information is filtered and spun far more than people realize.

From Loretta's list on the animal mind.

William Von Hippel

Author

This book is a ton of fun. Sapolsky is a brilliant thinker and amazing writer, so much so that the book reads like a novel. But it’s the true story of Sapolsky’s experiences across more than two decades studying savannah baboons in Kenya. Disguised as a memoir about his adventures with the baboons, you realize at the end that you have learned a ton about primate psychology from this wonderful book.

From William's list on understanding human nature.

If you love A Primate's Memoir...

Peter Allison

Author

Not new but far from dated this is one of the funniest books I have read about an outsider in Africa. Sapolsky bucks the trend of scientists being poor communicators, and details with warmth and hilarity his time researching baboons in East Africa. Once you’ve finished chortling you might just realise how much you have learnt along the way.

From Peter's list on African wildlife and safaris.