SISTERS OF THE JUNGLE: The Trailblazing Women Who Shaped the Study of Wild Primates, perfect for young women interested in life sciences

SISTERS OF THE JUNGLE: The Trailblazing Women Who Shaped the Study of Wild Primates
KERIANNE McGOOGAN
Douglas & McIntyre (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$19.99 ebook, available now

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Sisters of the Jungle explores the history of primatology, a rare scientific discipline led primarily by women, from pioneers like Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey to author Keriann McGoogan’s own adventurous field studies.

Since the 1970s, the science of primatology has been dominated by women—a unique reversal, as men usually outnumber women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Today, one of those women is primatologist Keriann McGoogan, who has traveled to the far corners of the earth in search of wild primates. In Sisters of the Jungle, McGoogan combines stories about her own studies of howler monkeys (the loudest living primate) and lemurs (the most endangered group of animals on the planet) with those of the women who paved the way: intrepid scientists like Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas, and Alison Jolly who broke boundaries, made astonishing discoveries and ultimately shaped the trajectory of an entire branch of science.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Women in STEM are only going to increase in numbers as "AI" (currently sophisticated LLMs not the AGI the tech scum are swearing is weeks away) becomes The Threat to Manhood the clique will worry about. Suddenly a human with ovaries won't get so much flak.

Such is my prediction, anyway.

The women who founded the concept of modern primatology are the subject of the memoir-cum-biography. The author's degrees are inspired by these foremothers of the field. After her first book, a memoir of her time in Madagascar researching lemurs, it seemed to be only right to discuss the founders of the current pracices in primatology that are returning such excellent results. It pays huge dividends to stand on the shoulders of giants.

My desire to read this book was mainly to see if I could recommend it...was it too wonky, for professionals only, was it too chatty, for celebrity seekers only...none of the above, thankfully. It is a surface treatment of the lives and accomplishments, in the teeth of great opposition, of the multiple women who spent careers...lives...in pursuit of knowledge about humanity's last living cousins.

contents page

We're all indebted to these researchers for the many insights into the reality of being human that our primate family members have given us. Six women whose determination, passion, and intelligence have made our entire world both bigger in scope and brighter in affect.

our subjects of study doing their thing

There are always foregoers, frontrunners, trailblazers to thank for any truly revolutionary advance in any field. We're lucky to have had these women's contributions. Their enrichment of the world led to some media attention:

...that has paid dividends as well as extracted prices.

It is not too much to say that following their examples is a gift to give the world. I'm suggesting you show the young women in your life that it can be done because it has been done.