Robert Sapolsky
A Primate's Memoir
Touchstone, 2002
ISBN: 0-7432-0241-4
Monika says:
After leaving university, American neurologist Robert Sapolsky goes to
Kenya to study how stress affects the immune system in baboons. Since
primates are – as is well known in the western world, but not
necessarily in Kenya – closely related to man, he was hoping to be able
to apply his findings to humans. I'm not quite sure if the baboons helped
him understand mankind better, but his experience with both the country
and the Kenyans – especially the Kenyans – did help him get a better
insight into how the human mind works. At the end of the book no one is
surprised that he has much more positive things to tell about his baboons
than about the human beings he met during his various visits there. A lot
of time has passed since Sapolsky left Kenya for the last time,
nevertheless after reading his book I'll think twice before deciding to go
on holiday to Kenya.
If you already read one of his books, for example Why
Zebras don't get Ulcers, you know what you're in for. Sapolsky is
one of the rare scientists capable to provide lots of information and
facts on every page without boring his readers with dry, uninspired
writing. Even though a lot of what he has to tell us makes us laugh at
first, you realize after a while that it's nothing but gallows humour.
It's good to know he was able to preserve it over all those years; he must
have needed it desperately on more than one occasion. Some things are
really funny, though, for instance the idea of spending weeks in the
desert of Sudan with only one book to read, mostly consisting of lengthy
descriptions of ... desert and sand - a real nightmare. Other things are
less funny if you look at them closely, like some of the tribal rituals of
the Masai.
If culture shocks don't scare you, this book is for you, even if you
won't learn much about stress related diseases, but all the more about
human nature. After all, Kenya is located in the vicinity of the so called
cradle of humanity. Read it at your own risk, though, because at the end
you might think baboons are the better humans. |
Any comments? Write us:
Monika
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