The School for Advanced Research (SAR) has awarded its 2009 J.I. Staley Prize to Jonathan Marks, for his book What It Means to be 98% Chimpanzee. The annual prize honors authors who expand the realm of anthropology through outstanding scholarship and writing. Past UC Press winners have included Charles L. Briggs and Carla Mantini-Briggs, for Stories in the Time of Cholera, and Paul Farmer, for Pathologies of Power.
What It Means to be 98% Chimpanzee is scientific, witty, provocative, and enthusiastically critical of scientific fallacies. Examining genetic data through the dual lens of molecular anthropology, Marks clarifies the scientific and cultural implications of our genetic similarity to apes.
Marks will receive his award at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting in December. His forthcoming book, Why I Am Not a Scientist: Anthropology and Modern Knowledge, will be published in June.
