'Infinite loneliness': the life and times of Miss Congo.
The arrival of Miss Congo, a female mountain gorilla, in America provided the opportunity for a scientific study of the mental abilities of our close cousin. Since the mid-nineteenth century, gorillas had captivated the imagination of the public and scientific community alike. In 1925, psychobiologist Robert Mearns Yerkes was thrilled to gain access to such a rare primate specimen. Yerkes' study of 'The Mind of a Gorilla' reveals how our enduring fascination with the gorilla is driven by conflicting desires to demonstrate our connection with and distance from our fellow great apes.
Montgomery
Georgina M
GM
Lyman Briggs College and the Department of History, Michigan State University, 35 East Holmes Hall, East Lansing, MI 48825, USA. montg165@msu.edu
D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003071:Cognition; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000523:psychology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007360:Intelligence; D008132:Loneliness