简・古多尔（Jane Goodall），生于伦敦。自幼即对动物行为极感兴趣。18岁离开学校，到赴非洲为止，她曾先后担任过秘书以及影片制作助理。此后，她在非洲担任古生物学家路易斯・利基的助手，与利基的合作经验使她能于1960年在贡贝溪动物保护区设立一个营区，得以观察该地黑猩猩的行为。1965年获剑桥大学动物行为学博士学位。1991年，她倡议并成立了“根与芽”组织，目的是使从幼儿园到大学的年轻一代都能够行动起来，为了环境、动物和他们自己的社区创造一个更加美好的世界。1995年，被英国女王授予勋爵士。简・古多尔撰有许多书籍和论文，最著名的是：《生活在人类的阴影中》（1971）、《贡贝的黑猩猩：行为模式》（1986）以及《透过视窗：对贡贝黑猩猩的观察》（1990），此著作已被翻译成15种文字。

Those who know Jane Goodall through her many books, speeches, and National Geographic television specials, know she is obviously no ordinary scientist. She is a genuinely spiritual woman who cares passionately about the preservation and enhancement of life in all its forms.Based upon the many spiritual experiences that have graced and shaped her outlook on life, Dr. Goodall is convinced there is a higher purpose to life, and that this purpose can best be served by a sense of reverence for creation- a commitment to opening our hearts and minds to the spiritual ties that bind us to the Earth.In this book, Dr. Goodall takes us through the pivotal events of her life- her childhood in war-torn England, her relationship with the Leakeys, her groundbreaking work with the chimpanzees of Gombe- and in doing so, touches upon such topics as faith and love, mysticism and science, the origins of good and evil and evolution, and the existence of the soul and of God. She sheds light not only on why millions of people today are hungry for meaning, but on the steps we can take to transform our lives for the better; to rekindle our spirits and reawaken our minds