Evolving Together

Up now at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History thru Sep 1, Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Dr. Jane Goodall follows the scientist’s journey from inquisitive girl dreaming of studying animals in Africa to her groundbreaking fieldwork in Gombe, Tanzania, and up to today — the 91-year-old remains a tireless activist, mentor, and advocate for, simply, a better world than the one we’re living in now. (We can only go up.)

The exhibit is loaded with scholarship and unfolds mostly chronologically. As a child in England, Goodall once spent five motionless hours in a henhouse to witness a chicken laying an egg and determine the process, and she made precise drawings of insects’ heads from all angles. She arrived in the Gombe Stream Game Reserve at the age of 26 in 1960 with her mother as chaperone and an African cook. The living was not easy. Goodall spent 12 hours a day sitting quietly among the chimpanzees to earn their trust. From letting her watch them grooming, the chimps eventually allowed her to touch them, play with them, and even eat with them. Scientists don’t do this today, but through her unprecedented access, Goodall was able to establish that chimpanzees have thoughts, feelings, and distinct personalities. She also found that we aren’t the only creatures who use tools. Established science had to adjust its data to accommodate Goodall’s new research.

The exhibit is highly interactive, perfect for kids who might balk at the amount of reading required to contextualize the displays. One booth plays prerecorded chimp calls and lets the viewer reproduce them. There are also short films, tactile objects (including reproductions of skulls and hands from humans and chimps), short films, a life-size replica of the scientist’s research tent, and much more, including holograms. One is a 360-degree projection of Gombe Stream National Park, narrated by Goodall.

Becoming Jane closes on a hopeful note, which is startling considering the dangers facing chimps — and our planet — today, including deforestation, illegal trapping, diseases that chimps and humans pass between each other in unregulated encounters, and the terrible effects of global warming. There is a pledge station where visitors can commit to taking restorative action and supporting the Jane Goodall Institute, a Tanzanian retreat that has helped replenish native forests.

Organized by National Geographic in partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute, Becoming Jane is included with general admission or museum membership.

Becoming Jane

Thru Sep 1 at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, 1600 Gendy St, Fort Worth. $12-16. 817-255-9300.