Acclaimed Primatologist, Frans de Waal dies at 75

[Catherine]

Frans de Waal did ground breaking work in the study of primates. At a time when animals were not thought to have emotions or intelligence, his worked proved that they do. He broke all previous ideas about primates. He studied Bonobos when they were not considered important. They are actually the closest species to humans. He found that our primate cousins exhibit cooperation, empathy, fairness, conflict resolution, reconciliation, morality, social learning and culture.
These traits were all thought to belong to humans only. Frans de Waal shattered that idea.  

https://phys.org/news/2024-03-acclaimed-...-waal.html

Frans de Waal was a great man. It is sad that he is so little known. His work challenged what we thought it meant to be human. We thought we were better than animals. We thought that were were different from them. He showed that animals are better than we thought and that we are not different. We have much in common and that is a good thing. He shaped modern thinking about what it means to be human. A bright light has left the world, but his ideas will live on and shape our thinking for years to come.