In this book, Haraway (biology, Univ. of California, Santa Cruz) claims there is a Western white male bias in theories of human evolution and culture and discusses the problems facing female scientists in this field. Shirley Strum, in Almost Human: A Journey into the World of Baboons ( LJ 10/15/87), described the resistance she met when her observations of baboons undermined theories of male social dominance. Haraway probes deeper into the origins of a male bias in primatology and provides interesing sketches of this science's founding fathers and recent women scientists. However, the dense prose and polemics of this book restrict its audience to scholars equipped to debate her views. For academic libraries.
- Beth Clewis, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll. Lib., Richmond, Va.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
- Beth Clewis, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll. Lib., Richmond, Va.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
. . . Haraway's take on the many strands of contemporary feminism is refreshingly acute. . . . Primate Visions is a genuine tour de force, uniquely combining intellectual history and the sociology of knowledge. It contains enough sheer insight and represents enough hard historical digging to fuel several scholarly careers. We leave the text genuinely enlightened on the changing boundaries between nature and culture, and on our own historical trafficking in these myriad forms of otherness.
–The Nation, Nov. 1990
–The Nation, Nov. 1990