Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas

A captivating graphic novel about Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas―three fearless women who revolutionized our understanding of the great apes and changed how humanity sees itself.

From the jungles of Africa to the rainforests of Borneo, Primates brings to life the bold journeys of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas. Each woman followed her own path―armed only with patience, curiosity, and boundless passion―and refused to settle for the accepted boundaries of science.


Ottaviani explores their groundbreaking work with warmth and wit, highlighting each scientist’s fascinating journey, from Jane Goodall, who transformed our view of chimpanzees with her discovery that they make and use tools, to Dian Fossey, who fiercely protected endangered mountain gorillas in the Rwandan highlands, and Biruté Galdikas, who unlocked the secretive world of wild orangutans in the rainforests of Borneo
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With spirited storytelling and evocative art, Primates weaves biography and science into a compelling graphic narrative that’s accessible to young readers yet rich in depth. In this book, you’ll come to see humanity through a new lens: one that connects us more intimately to our primate cousins.

Jim Ottaviani has written fifteen (and counting) graphic novels about scientists. His books include Naturalist (with E.O. Wilson), Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier, Hawking, The Imitation Game, a biography of Alan Turing, Primates, about Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas; and Feynman, about the Nobel-prize winning physicist, artist, and raconteur. His books are New York Times bestsellers, have been translated into a dozen languages, and have received praise from publications ranging from Nature and Physics World to Entertainment Weekly and Variety.

Jim lives in Michigan and comes to comics via careers in nuclear engineering and librarianship.