March 5, 1999

The Pitfalls of Not Knowing the Whole Animal

By FRANS B.M. de WAAL

Scientists are supposed to study animals in a totally objective fashion, similar to the way in which we inspect a rock, or measure the circumference of a tree trunk. Emotions are not to interfere with the assessment.

Some scientists have proudly broken out of this mold, however. Roger Fouts, known for his work in training chimpanzees to use symbols to communicate with humans, wrote in Next of Kin (Morrow,

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