<BOOK INFO>
Published online (March 13, 2022)
William C. McGrew Chasing after Chimpanzees: The Making of a Primatologist Gloucestershire: Mereo Books, 298 pp. Published in 2021 ISBN: 9781861515827, $14.00 (USA), Paperback Having moved from zoology to psychology to anthropology on both sides of the Atlantic, Bill McGrew developed a fascination for chimpanzees which led to him spending four decades studying our nearest living relations in their African homelands. He held a series of academic posts in the USA and UK, culminating in a professorship at the University of Cambridge and ending in retirement to Scotland. As he puts it: “I was lucky enough to be paid by various academic institutions to do what I would have paid them to let me do”. This memoir consists of a series of stories and vignettes from a varied and colourful life, mainly involving animals, and naturally focusing on chimpanzees. All proceeds will go to organisations that rescue and care for chimpanzees. CONTENTS
Preface
Chronology
EARLY DAYS
1. Big Wind 3
2. Early Gender Bending 4
3. Introduction to Chimpanzees 5
4. Fishing and Hunting 7
5. Precocial Opportunities 9
6. Bones and Stones 11
7. Herps 13
8. Numbers Games 16
9. BILGE 17
10. First Publication 20
11. Political Schemes 21
12. Seeking Curly-Tails 23
13. How to Get a Rhodes Scholarship 24
ADULTHOOD
14. Ocean Lining 33
15. The Lord of the Rings Himself 35
16. Skiing the Iron Curtain 36
17. Front Page News 38
18. Vietnam 39
19. Grosvenor Square 41
20. Dylan, etc. 42
21. Football Conversion 43
22. Haunting Voices 45
23. McGrew Origins 46
24. Hibs Forever 48
25. Changing Addictions 50
26. 26.2 Miles or 42 Kilometres 51
27. Becoming Scottish 55
28. Coaching 57
29. West Highland Way 59
30. Super Bowl Surprise 61
31. Incarceration 63
32. Deer Me! 64
33. Investments Gone Awry 65
34. Horses for Courses 67
35. Deadly Hobby 68
36. Never Again! 70
37. Ethereal Diving 71
38. Travels 73
39. Flashbulb Memories 75
40. Hearty Send-off 77
ACADEMIA
41. Publish or Perish 81
42. Degrees of Difficulty 84
43. Esteemed Mentors 86
44. Chimpanzee Dentistry 89
45. Afternoon Delight 91
46. Ape Escapology 93
47. The Great Escape 95
48. Wenner-Gren 96
49. Dian and Me 99
50. Chimpologists and Sport 101
51. Munro-Bagging 103
52. Gummed-up Marmosets 105
53. Captive Cotton-tops 108
54. Snakebit 110
55. Short-term Teaching 111
56. Andechs 113
57. Ardi and Me 116
58. Stamped Upon 117
59. Chimp Haven 118
60. Marketing Great Apes 121
61. Versailles High Jinx 124
62. Stances with Wolves 125
63. Name Game 126
64. Miami to Cambridge 128
65. Flakey Acts 130
66. High Table 131
67. Grape Expectations 135
68. Bookmaking 137
69. Honorariness 140
FIELDWORK
70. Ravenglass 161
71. Cayo Santiago 162
72. Chimpology's Scope 164
73. Pan Places 166
74. Habituation 171
75. Circumstantial Evidence 173
76. Transection 177
77. Shit Happens 180
78. Gimme Shelter 182
79. Real-life Altruism 186
80. Field Hazards 187
81. Unwelcome Companions 189
82. Figan's and My Predicament 191
83. Tropical Fruitery 192
84. Job-hunting 194
85. Scheherazade the Hen 195
86. Customary Grooming 196
87. Sahara Crossing 198
88. Gravity Rules 201
89. Re-Wild? Release? Rehabilitate! 202
90. Assirik Daily Life 205
91. Assirik Critters 208
92. Avian Enterprise 210
93. Scavenging 211
94. Wild Baking 213
95. Flying Chimpanzee 214
96. Waterhole Watcher 215
97. Revenge of the Village Dog 218
98. Pygmies 220
99. Pirates! 223
100. Flying to the Field 224
101. Poachers 225
102. Handedness 228
103. Honey's Costs 232
104. Indian Interlude 234
105. Primate Archaeology 237
106. Boa Constrictor 240
107. Monkey Technology 241
108. Impossible Bipedality 244
109. Beyond Chimpanzees 246
110. Three Aces 247
Index
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