Science, and the tried-and-true scientific method, is supposed to be free of bias. But as primatologist Frans de Waal explains in The Ape and the Sushi Master, science, like all human endeavors, is warped by cultural ideology. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the field of animal behavior and particularly in discussions of whether animals have culture. "We cannot discuss animal culture without seriously reflecting on our own culture and the possible blind spots it creates," de Waal writes.

He approaches this conundrum by taking us with him on a journey around the world, to watch primates and to talk with other scientists, engaging the reader in a conversation about where our biases come from and how they have influenced the history of animal behavior.

This article was originally published with the title Do Animals Have Culture?.

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