#93. Tribute to Jane Goodall
One of my scientific and humanitarian heroes died on October 1, 2025.
Dear friends,
Jane Goodall, one of my scientific heroes, died on October 1 (2025). This will be a short letter, because you can read about the life and accomplishments of this amazing researcher and conservationist in many other sources, including in Wikipedia and in this NYT article published the day after her death.
I first heard of Goodall in the summer of 1963, after my freshman year at college, through articles about her studies of wild chimpanzees in National Geographic. Prior to her, those few people (all men) who had dared get close enough to chimpanzees in the wild to see them had gone with firearms, to protect themselves from these dangerous beasts. But here was this slender young woman, in her 20s, unarmed, following wild chimpanzees around, protecting herself not with firearms but by learning their language and communicating her own nonaggression in their language.
Her work countered many myths about chimpanzees, but it also countered the myth, still prevalent in 1963, that women are the weaker, more timid sex. She set a precedent for many women to follow in observational research on animals in the wild. Among them are Diane Fossey, who studied and taught us about gorillas in the wild, and Biruté Galikas and Cheryl Knott who studied and taught us about orangutans. Biologically, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and humans are all apes. We are far more like one another than different. Ever since 1963 I have felt that learning about our close animal relatives, and those less closely related to us, is far more interesting, and ultimately more important to our survival, than learning, say, about what is on the moon or Mars. It helped determine my career in evolutionary biology and animal and human behavior. Elon Musk can go live on Mars if he wants; I’ll stay here, thank you. I switched, after 1963, from majoring in physics to majoring in psychology and biology. I think Goodall played a role in that.
A few months ago, in Letter #28, I wrote about Goodall—and Darwin, Edison, and Einstein—as examples of scientists whose passions developed in childhood play and who carried those passions, along with childlike curiosity and creativity, through their research careers. That letter was about the spirit of amateurism, that is, the spirit that comes from love of what you are doing and thinking outside the boundaries of professionalism. When Goodall began her adventurous research, she did not have a bachelors’ degree, let alone a Ph.D. Many agree, that was one of her advantages. Nobody had taught her ways that would have boxed in her creative mind.
Goodall went on to be a leading voice for conservation and animal rights, for preserving this planet and respecting the other animals who inhabit it. Goodall saw bullying as well as kindness among the chimpanzees, just as we see it among ourselves. The difference is, our bullies are destroying the only planet we know of that is fit for human, chimpanzee, and all of life survival. Will we ever learn how to enable our natural kindness and playfulness to quash our equally natural greed and aggressiveness? We should all be working on that.
Your Thoughts?
I’m curious to know if Goodall touched you in any way, as she touched me. This substack is, in part, a forum for discussion, and your stories, comments, and questions are valued and treated with respect by me and other readers.
If you aren’t already subscribed to Play Makes Us Human, please subscribe now and let others who might be interested know about it. By subscribing, you will receive an email notification of each new letter. If you are currently a free subscriber, consider converting to a paid subscription for just $50 for a year (or, better yet, a “founding subscription” for $100). I use all funds that come to me from paid subscriptions to help support nonprofit organizations aimed at bringing more play and freedom to children’s lives. A benefit for paid subscribers is the opportunity to join periodic Zoom meetings with other paid subscribers and me to discuss issues relevant to Play Makes Us Human.
With respect and best wishes,
Peter
In 1998 (I think) I was working in the School of Education at CU Boulder and doing research in Manual HS, a Denver public school. I spent a good time at the school and one day Jane Goodall was there to deliver a speech to Denver public school children. I went to hear her talk and sat in the back row of the auditorium. When I took a seat I noticed a notebook filled with papers on the floor next to me. No one else was nearby, so I picked up the stack of folders and leafed through them. I quickly realized it was Jane Goodall's itinerary and that someone had apparently misplaced it. I then went to the nearest official-looking person not associated with Manual HS and showed him the materials. As soon as I did, he breathed quite a sigh of relief. So I credit myself with saving Jane Goodall's trip to Colorado and Denver. Or at least saving some travel funds. I should have held out for delivering the materials to her in-person. Missed that one, but I guess she's thanking me from Heaven.
Beautiful tribute. Jane Goodall is also my hero and also the reason I studied evolutionary anthropology and psychology. I wrote my senior thesis in college comparing the facial expressions during play behavior of human and chimpanzee children.
I found that while both chimps and humans scream in all kinds of negative contexts, it's only the humans who have a "play scream," presumably because we could afford it and not risk our offspring calling too much attention to themselves with predators around. Listening to the almost silent chimp laugh is still contagious though.
Jane influenced my education and career decisions, my approach to motherhood, my philosophy of life and so much more. I've seen her speak live twice and even visited her research site in Gombe. That was an incredible experience. I'm devastated at the loss of this icon but a fuller life could not have been lived than hers.