The world’s leading expert on chimpanzees and one of the world’s most famous scientists, Jane Goodall changed the world by discovering that chimpanzees make and use tools. But her in-depth studies of our primate cousins also revealed a lot about play and the effects of play deprivation. She described play behavior among chimps — roughhousing, tickling, and chasing games — and showed that chimps deprived of play became hostile and even homicidal. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which “promotes understanding and protection of chimpanzees and other great apes along with their habitats.” In addition to her continuing work as a researcher, speaker, and author, she serves as a Board member for the National Institute for Play. She has received many honors and awards, including the Kyoto Prize, the UNESCO 60th Anniversary Medal, the Medal of Tanzania, the French Legion of Honor, and the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence, and is a UN Messenger of Peace.
Most Influential Work:
- Tool-Using and Aimed Throwing in a Community of Free-Living Chimpanzees (Nature, 1964). This publication upended the scientific understanding of what it means to be human, and of our relationships to our primate cousins.
- In the Shadow of Man (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971) documents the first years of Dr. Goodall’s extraordinary long-term study of the chimpanzees of the Gombe. It is a landmark scientific work and a major turning point in modern ethology, primatology, and anthropology.
- Jane Goodall’s Books and Films (via the Jane Goodall Institute UK)
