Jane Goodall April 3, 1934 – October 1, 2025 ❤️
"Goodall revolutionized primatology long before she obtained any formal scientific training. After she had spent several months watching the reserve’s chimpanzees from a distance, a chimp she dubbed David Graybeard began to allow her to approach him. She saw him push a grass stem into a termite mound to fish out his meal, clearly using the stem as a tool. Then she saw him strip leaves from a twig before using the twig for the same purpose. The chimp had demonstrated both tool use and toolmaking, behaviors widely believed exclusive to humans. When Goodall reported these observations to Leakey, he responded by telegram with three now-legendary lines:
NOW WE MUST REDEFINE TOOL STOP
REDEFINE MAN STOP
OR ACCEPT CHIMPANZEES AS HUMAN
The breakthrough led to Goodall’s first National Geographic story, and after that, the publicity never really stopped. Sometimes, it led to unwelcome attention: Older male colleagues questioned her abilities as a scientist and criticized her for naming the chimps she studied instead of identifying them by number."
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/2025/10/jane-goodall-fame-research-conservation/684433/