Rita Hoots Department Editor

I and Birute Galdikas, along with Yet another continent of life remains vignettes about noted like Was- to be discovered, not upon the earth, The Great Apes. By Jennifer Lindsey. hoe (), Binti Jua () but one to two hundred feet above 1999. Friedman/Fairfax Publishing and Indah (). it, extending over thousandsof square Group (15 W. 26 St., New York, NY The final chapter is a plea for the miles ... William Beebe, G. Inness 10010). 144 pp. Hardback $19.98. apes-a plea for their survival. Lind- Hartley, and Paul G. Howes, Trop- sey writes, "Regardless of one's views ical Wild Life in British Guinea, Introduction to the Primates. By Daris on evolution, the missing link, or early 1917. R. Swindler. 1998. University of Wash- humans, great apes are, without doubt, ington Press (Seattle, WA). 284 pp. worthy of our protection. That they t; One of the most exciting fields Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/62/6/458/49686/4450947.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 Paperback $22. exhibit emotions, personalities and 'qI~-~ of tropical rain forest ecology The nonhuman primates, and behaviors similar to our own-and is canopy research. Life in the Treetops vG especially the great apes, are can communicate with us on our own is a biographical memoir by field biolo- a source of continuing interest and terms-opens a narrow window into gist and canopy researcher Margaret fascination for both scientists and the their complex lives." Included at the Loman. From her beginnings as a tem- general public alike. Two new books, end of the book is a listing of organiza- perate forest ecologist, Loman weaves one dealing with the great apes, and tions devoted to great conserva- a story of her career as a woman in the other with primates as a whole, tion and study. a very demanding profession with her provide excellent introductions to the The second book, Introduction to life as a single parent. Her story covers subject of biology. the Primates, is a general introduction several continents: temperate forest Jennifer Lindsey, Director of Com- to the order Primates by Daris Swin- research in North America; alpine for- munications for the Jane Goodall Insti- dler, Professor Emeritus of Anthropol- est research in Scotland; and rain forest tute, provides a very readable intro- ogy at the University of Washington. research in Australia, Africa and Latin duction to the great apes in her book Swindler, a primate anatomist, begins America. As one of the pioneers of The Great Apes. The book is richly with a chapter on monkeys and apes canopy research, Loman vividly illustrated with beautiful, full-page in history and continues with chapters describes the excitement of being at color photographs. Beginning with an on classification, blood groups, the pri- the top of 200-foot trees. Whether overview of basic information about mate skeleton, social behavior, fossils, the ascent is by traditional climbing the great apes (, , and conservation. The book is written techniques, hot air balloon or canopy and ), the author for a general audience, and includes raft, the opportunities for study pro- continues with chapters on family rela- black and white photos and line illus- vided by these new techniques of tionships, group behavior, ape intelli- trations. The book is up-to-date and exploration are contributing new gence and conservation. Scattered informative and would certainly be insights and correcting old ideas about throughout each chapter are fascinat- suitable for an introductory course in what happens in the canopy of tropical ing vignettes about noted primatolo- biological anthropology. A bibliogra- rain forests. gists like Jane Goodall, Diane Fossey phy of recent publications in primatol- In addition to descriptions of her ogy and a glossary are included at the canopy experiences, Loman incorpo- end of the book. rates a second theme into her story. Both of these books would be Rita Hoots, Book Reviews Editor, is a satis- As a young married graduate student fying reading for anyone with an inter- Professor at Woodland Community in Australia, she attempts to reconcile College and teaches classes inthe bio- est in primates-Lindsey's book for the demands of home and family in logical sciences, human anatomy, and its readability and beautiful photos, traditional Australian society with her chemistry. Her various degrees in the and Swindler's for its organization and sciences, counseling, and education informational content. desire to carry out scientific research. come from the City Universityof New Pressure to give up her scientific career York,University of Wisconsin-Madison, Suzanne Kempke by her Australian in-laws ultimately California State University-Sacra- Assistant Professor of Biology leads Loman to leave Australia and mento, and the Universityof California- Armstrong Atlantic State University accept a teaching position in field biol- Berkeley. Before entering the educa- Savannah, GA 31419 tion field, Hoots was for many years ogy at a small, liberal arts college. She a researcher in cell ultrastructureand finds happiness in her new career, immunology. Her predominant pas- both as teacher and as a single parent. sion in education is directed to the FIELDBIOLOGY Her young sons show the same love popularization and illuminationof sci- of nature as their mother, and Loman ence for the public. Her address is: Life in the Treetops: Adventures of allows them to accompany her on Science Woodland Dept., Community some of her trips to the forest, com- College, 41605 Gibson Rd., Wood- a Woman in Field Biology. By Marga- land, CA 95776; e-mail: rahoots@ix. ret D. Loman. 1999. Yale University plete with their own climbing gear. netcom.com. Press (PO Box 2099040, New Haven, In the final chapter of the book, CT 06520). 219 pp. Hardback $27.50. Loman writes:

458 THEAMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER, VOLUME 62, NO. 6, JUNE2000