"It was apparent to all who attended the Chimpanzees in Context symposium (2016) that the breadth of experience and collective understanding of our closest living relatives extended far beyond that which could be expressed in strictly empirical terms.
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Many of the contributors to the meeting have spent literally decades of their life dedicated to understanding chimpanzees and the insights from those investigations now permeate the world's understanding of nonhuman animals and equally, our own species. Steve Ross and Lydia Hopper of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago seek to compose an engaging and unique volume aimed at illustrating how the study of chimpanzees relates to three interrelated concepts: inspiration, reflection and compassion. Much has been written about if and how chimpanzees are capable of these and other mental constructs, but in this volume, the lens is turned around toward the primatologists themselves. What have we learned from decades of chimpanzee study and how do those findings relate to the daily lives of humans? What forces shaped the study of our closest living relative and how does that reflect on our own species? In this collection, a preeminent group of scientists will have the opportunity to tell their personal stories about their lives studying chimpanzees. These stories are meant to reflect as much as project, and the collective wisdom of the selected authors will permeate the volume into something that generates interest in chimpanzees but also inspires reflection in a broad audience of readers" (Editeur)
