John's Reviews > Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees

This book gets 5 stars because of all that it taught me about chimpanzees and scientific study. I never realized just how intelligent chimpanzees really are. I always thought that chimps using ASL were only using 1 or 2 word combinations, and only with nouns. It is amazing the complex sentences, thoughts, and emotions that these "animals" are sharing. I'll never look at a chimp the same again.

There is an ethical dilemma with using primates for scientific study, or for using any animals for that matter. The author has the extremist view of removing all forms of non-observational animal research. However, he never pushes this view onto the reader, and his reasons for his stance are clear and logical. I may not share the same view for all animals, but I also didn't spend 30 years of my life working with a chimpanzee family that I love.