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Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees | 
 enlarge | Authors: Roger Fouts, Stephen Tukel Mills
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $3.99
You Save: $10.96 (73%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 284400
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 0380728222
Dewey Decimal Number: 921
EAN: 9780380728220
ASIN: 0380728222
Publication Date: September 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: A Nice Copy. Minor Cover wear. No Inscriptions (A-43)
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
For three decades, primatologist Roger Fouts has been involved in language studies of the chimpanzee, the animal most closely related to human beings. Among his subjects was the renowned Washoe, who was "endowed with a powerful need to learn and communicate," and who developed an extraordinary vocabulary in American sign language. Another chimpanzee, Fouts writes, "never made a grammatical error," which turned a whole school of linguistic theory upside down. While reporting these successes, Fouts also notes that chimpanzees are regularly abused in laboratory settings and that in the wild their number has fallen from 5,000,000 to fewer than 175,000 in the last century.
Product Description
For 30 years Roger Fouts has pioneered communication with chimpanzees through sign language--beginning with a mischievous baby chimp named Washoe. This remarkable book describes Fout's odyssey from novice researcher to celebrity scientist to impassioned crusader for the rights of animals. Living and conversing with these sensitive creatures has given him a profound appreciation of what they can teach us about ourselves. It has also made Fouts an outspoken opponent of biomedical experimentation on chimpanzees. A voyage of scientific discovery and interspecies communication, this is a stirring tale of friendship, courage, and compassion that will change forever the way we view our biological--and spritual--next of kin.
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Insightful for understanding autism & other human primate thinking processes June 22, 2008
A very readable & enjoyable book. I especially enjoyed the chapter on autism & the origin of language. Fritjof Capra's book "Hidden Connections" referenced this informative & amusing text including the link between brain function involved with hand gesture, signing, & tongue movements that unexpectedly led to the promotion the uptake of speech in autistic.
There are many insights into the shared psychology of humans & other primates. Despite the physiological and genetic similarities of all primates that have made chimps attractive model organisms for research,it was interesting to read about the reluctance of biological scientists to accept the anthropomorphic traits of chimps. There can be little room for a claim to "value-free" objectivity by biomedical researchers who can apparently dismiss the psychological effects of enforced confinement & sensory deprivation, on the effectiveness of anti-viral medications, or a range of other pharmaceuticals. The author has shown considerable bravery & commitment to expanding this area of learning, despite the threats against his personal career by people with vested interests in ignoring or denying the contradictions to their implicit or explicit values.
Animals are people, too! April 19, 2008
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
"Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees" is one of the most amazing, heartbreaking, and inspirational books I've ever read. The book is written by Roger Fouts, a primatologist who devoted his life to studying the language patterns of chimpanzees. While in graduate school, Roger was introduced to Washoe, a precocious young chimp who became fluent in American Sign Language. Eventually "Project Washoe" expanded to include many chimpanzees, all who learned to communicate with humans using ASL and demonstrated unique personalities, complex emotions, and astounding intelligence.
I've always been a big animal lover, but reading this book taught me so many things that I never knew before. Anyone who questions an animal's ability to think or feel will get a sharp reality check after reading this book. Chimpanzees are people, too, just as much as human beings are. Unfortunately, the majority if humans in this world don't agree with that logic, and thousands of animals, including chimpanzees, are routinely kidnapped from their natural habitats and bred in captivity for the sole purpose of participating in biomedical research. In many cases, medical laboratories house animals in appalling conditions and literally torture them to death. "Next of Kin" details the horrors that go on behind closed doors at biomedical laboratories, and chronicles the steps Fouts and other animal activists have taken to protect chimpanzees from being treated inhumanely.
I absolutely loved this book. Reading it made me feel close to Washoe and her chimpanzee friends, even though I never met any of them before. (Sadly, Washoe passed away last fall at the age of 42, but I hope to visit members of her family at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute in Washington someday.) Parts of this book are incredibly depressing and difficult to read, but hopefully learning about the terrible ways animals are treated will inspire people to take action. I admire everything that Fouts, his family, and his colleagues have done to protect chimpanzees, who are our next of kin on the great evolutionary scale. I hope other readers get as much out of this book as I did.
Reads like a page-turner novel January 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A must-read for any animal lover. Roger Fouts and the recently deceased chimpanzee Washoe are my heroes.
Truly enlightening June 21, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
At age 62, I still look for writers who will change and deepen my sense of our human nature and our place in the natural world. More than writers about religion per se, I think these writers are able to help us advance our moral and spiritual understanding and reconcile our human/animal natures. For some years I've been reading Goodall and others on primates, but Next of Kin was, for me, a pinnacle illumination. Even if you aren't interested in these types of questions, I think this book will move you deeply. If you ARE interested, may I also suggest the recent Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets.Take Me With You When You Go
the chimps touched my heart February 25, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although this book was written some time ago, it is exceptionally timely because the relevance of chimp behavior to our own continues to unfold. The devotion the author invests in his charges and the passion he feels about the atrocities visited on chimps both in the laboratory and in the wild drive his story. This abuse is reinforced by the backward and ignorant thinking that stems from bible thumpers who fear the truth about evolution and man's close relationship to apes. Roger Fouts and his wife have provided an invaluable service to our understanding of chimps, and their research related to sign language is truly stunning. They have succeeded in accomplishing their observation and reporting against considerable odds. All these aspects, and the Fouts' fully rounded examination of their subjects make for a gripping and emotional tale well told.
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