The Naked Ape (book)

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Book cover

The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal (Hardback: ISBN 0070431744; Reprint: ISBN 0-385-33430-3) is a 1967 book by Desmond Morris which looks at humans as a species and compares them to other animals. The Human Zoo, a followup book by Desmond Morris which examined the behavior of people in cities, was published in 1969.

[edit] Summary

The book depicts human behavior as largely evolved to meet the challenges of prehistoric life as a hunter-gatherer (see nature versus nurture). The book was serialized in the Daily Mirror newspaper, and has been translated into 23 languages.^[1]

[edit] Movie adaptations

A 1973 movie directed by Donald Driver, very loosely based on the book, was made starring Johnny Crawford and Victoria Principal. In 2006, an independent movie was made, based loosely on the book, written and directed by Daniel Mellitz, starring Josh Wise, Chelse Swain, Sean Shanks, Amanda MacDonald, Tony LaThanh, Corbin Bernsen. Beyond their scripts being loosely based on his book, Morris himself was not involved in either movie in any way.

[edit] See also

• Sociobiology
• Evolutionary psychology
• The Territorial Imperative, 1966 book by Robert Ardrey
• The Moral Animal, 1994 book by Robert Wright

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• BBC news item at the 1967 book launch
• The Naked Ape 1973 at the Internet Movie Database, and review