Jane Goodall, The Chimp Scientist

Dr. Jane Goodall began to observe and study the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream in Tanzania Africa, more than 30 years ago. Back then, people thought that it was not scientific to talk about an animal's mind or personality or to give funny names to their subjects. They also thought of science as experiments that men in white coats conducted in laboratories.

However, science is a particular way of knowing and learning about the world. We can learn the methods of science and put them into practice. Observation and reflection are key aspects of science. Dr. Jane Goodall's field journal documented her observations. She made detailed observations while she kept careful watch on her chimpanzee subjects, using her own abbreviations and note-taking style that were designed to make it easy to write quickly and understand later.

Field notes Jane Goodall took while observing some chimpanzees

It took Goodall close to 4 years to collect a significant amount of information. The chimpanzees were hard to find and resisted her presence for the first couple of years, but eventually came to trust her - this itself was a key observation. She carefully recorded their every move, interaction, gesture, and grunt. She discovered the intricacies of their way of living and social nature and found that chimpanzees are caring, clever and capable of lasting attachments.

Because of Jane Goodall's long term study and observations, we are able to construct our understanding of the true nature of chimpanzees. This is important knowledge because the chimpanzee is the closest living relative of human species. Learning more about them make it possible to learn more about our common evolutionary heritage.