Perspective

In the Shadow of Man is written in the first-person from the perspective of the famous scientist, primatologist and environmental activist, Jane Goodall. Goodall was born in London in 1934 and loved chimpanzees from an early age; her desire to study animals led to her meeting Dr. Louis Leakey, who hired her as his research assistant.

After traveling with the Leakey's to an archaeological dig in Africa, Leakey asked her to study chimpanzees for six months, to which Goodall immediately agreed. Her study of the chimpanzee began in 1960, which is where the bulk of the story began. As time progressed, Goodall would earn her PhD in ethology from Darwin College at Cambridge in 1964. While in the field, Goodall marrys her photographer, the Baron Hugo van Lawick; they have a son between their research, Hugo Eric Louis, whom they called "Grub."

Goodall's life, therefore, has been tied up with the...