Will I love Primate Visions?

For me, this was the book that changed everything!

Haraway does an amazing job of showing how the private lives and experiences of primate specialists were an important part of science. There’s even a chapter that shows how one of the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History has a taxidermy gorilla whose painted landscape depicts the gravesite of the guy who shot him (you still see it in person today if you are in New York City). This and other stories in the book transformed my thinking about the lines separating “animals” from other Others.

Philosopher and historian of science Donna Haraway analyses the historical development of primatology, tracing its connections to colonialism and the construction of gendered and racialized notions of nature.

This book taught me that the production of scientific knowledge about animals is a narration of human society and a reflection of cultural values. Each chapter is standalone, so you can pick whatever interests you. I highly recommend the chapter “Teddy Bear Patriarchy: Taxidermy in the Garden of Eden, New York City, 1908-1936.”

Haraway’s writing style is often dense, but this read is fluent and enjoyable.